INTERNSHIP — Rights & Contracts (July–December 2026)

Paid placement, July 20 – December 18, 2026.

Location: 320 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario. In office minimum three days per week.

Changing the world, one book at a time.

As a team of dedicated book-loving professionals, we discover, shape, and share content that nurtures thoughts, dreams, and conversations around the globe, ensuring that new and established voices are heard.

Penguin Random House Canada internships:

In this role, you will engage in meaningful work that supports your professional growth and facilitates learning in your area of interest and specialty while contributing to the success of our books. At Penguin Random House Canada we have a high-performance culture and you will be surrounded by others with the same curiosity, drive, and passion for books.

This internship will support both the Rights and Contracts teams.

We’re looking for a curious, highly organized Rights and Contract Intern to join our team.

What you’ll do :

You will be in the unique position of joining both the Rights and Contracts teams. The Rights department finds publishers around the world and pitches, negotiates, and sells translation rights for titles across the Penguin Random House Canada adult and kids lists. On the Rights side you will help us highlight great Canadian books to our foreign publishing partners, co-agents, and scouts and assist with information tracking for submissions and contracts; maintain and update databases; process, archive, and mail foreign editions; and put your creative and research skills to use to help draft submissions to foreign publishers. You will also help us prepare for the Frankfurt Book Fair and Salon du livre de Montréal. Our Contracts team handles all agreements for the Canadian publishing program both for rights bought by editorial and those sold by the Rights team. You will handle Permissions requests and negotiations and update and manage work in our rights system and assist the work of Contracts team in general. You will participate in both Rights and Contracts team meetings and interact with other departments across the company

What you can expect from your internship experience :

You will gain valuable experience in the industry, make connections, build relationships with teams across our company while working alongside a cohort of other interns, and play a part in getting the books we publish into the hands of our readers all over the world. Through on-the-job learning, you will develop and gain new skills that will be valuable to you in this role and in the future.

Our interns are paid $20.00/hour plus 4% vacation pay and work 35 hours per week. You will be one of a group of interns working in various functions across the business. Like all our employees, you will participate in the life of our company (this includes the opportunity to attend company-wide gatherings, join the office book club, participate in educational sessions with industry experts, etc.), and you’ll benefit from perks, including a Wellness Benefit of $250, and access to our Penguin Reader and Penguin Random House Audio apps, containing free eBooks and audiobooks.

Competencies and knowledge you’ll bring to this role, and continue to build:

• Attention to detail and strong administrative skills
• Excellent written communication skills
• Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize and accurately complete multiple projects and tasks at the same time
• Confidentiality is critical
• Creativity and thorough research skills
• Ability to receive and apply constructive feedback, demonstrating quick learning skills and attention to detail
• Capacity to think critically, pivot, and thrive in an ever-changing work environment
• A proactive approach to problem-solving and anticipating team requests
• An ability to work independently as well as to collaborate within a close-knit team
• An inclusive approach, supported by cultural competency and a proven ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders
• A working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, with above-basic knowledge of Excel considered a plus, and AI proficiency a bonus but not required
• Sales or customer service experience is a bonus, but not required
• Though not mandatory, candidates who have done any publishing or copyediting courses are encouraged to identify which courses they’ve taken in their application
• Enhanced knowledge, awareness, and experience with the culture and history of any community that has faced marginalization is considered a plus And, of course, a love for books!

We are currently working in a flexible/hybrid model where employees come into the Toronto office at least 3 days a week, and more as needed during book fair periods. As such, candidates located within commuting distance of Toronto will be shown preference.

Interested candidates should apply with their cover letter and resume by Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Please note that only applications with a cover letter will be considered. We appreciate the interest of all applicants; however, we will only be contacting candidates selected for an interview.

We are actively seeking to add team members from communities with lived experiences of marginalization and underrepresentation. We respect and value each individual and their lived experiences and are committed to creating a more diverse team and establishing a culture of belonging. If you self-identify as Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community or another marginalized group, we strongly encourage you to apply.

We do not use artificial intelligence to screen or assess applicants. However, we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as supporting administrative aspects of the recruitment process. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment at any part of the process. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Please contact Human Resources at hrcanada@penguinrandomhouse.com or 416-364-4449 if you need accommodation at any stage of the application process or want more information on our accommodation policies.