Production Editor - Design Services (UK)

Pearson - UK; London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A global education company is seeking a Production Editor in London to process and typeset high-stakes assessment materials. The role requires expertise in Adobe Creative Suite and a strong focus on accessibility. Ideal candidates will have excellent communication skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage content through its lifecycle. A range of benefits including annual leave and private medical insurance is on offer.

Benefits

25 Days annual leave

Private Pension plan

Private medical and dental care

Stock/share purchase options

Flexible working policies

Employee wellbeing assistance

Gym membership concessions

Qualifications

• Willingness to take ownership of projects and see tasks through to completion.
• Excellent communication skills in English.
• Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strategic thinking abilities.
• Strong advocate for accessibility standards.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver high-stakes assessment material.
• Manage content lifecycle using workflow systems.
• Create digital assets adhering to house styles.
• Support supplier management and training.
• Identify opportunities for automation in typesetting.

Skills

Ownership of projects

Excellent communication

Attention to detail

Strategic thinking

Technical design skills

Advocate for accessibility

Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite

Experience with workflow tools

Structured content formats

HTML and CSS knowledge

Tools

Adobe InDesign

Jira

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Job description

Job title: Production Editor

Business unit: UK Assessment & Qualifications

Location: London/Hellaby

Report to: Typesetting Manager

About Pearson

Pearson is a global education company with 150 years of publishing expertise and leading digital technology, supporting learning anywhere and in any form. We are accelerating growth in digital learning, education services, and emerging markets to address major global education challenges. Our strengths include exceptional people, strong educational partnerships, technological innovation, and worldwide reach. We believe education empowers individuals, unlocks potential, and builds connected communities. At the heart of our ecosystem, Assessment & Qualifications is our largest business by revenue and reach, delivering assessments that enable learners to demonstrate knowledge from school through to professional careers.

About the Role

To process, typeset, and deliver high-stakes assessment materials for our qualification markets. This involves transforming content into high-quality, accessible print and digital deliverables. The role requires managing content through its lifecycle in our workflow systems and providing excellent customer service to support the content team throughout the production process. If you’re a detail-oriented editor with a passion for technology and a desire to help shape the future of content production at Pearson, we’d love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and delivery of GQ and VQ high stakes assessment material
  
  
  
  • Process and typeset high-quality assessment material from structured content sources (XML, AsciiDoc) and traditional formats.
  
  
  • Utilise Adobe InDesign for complex typesetting, ensuring the accurate application of automated and manual styling.
  
  
  • Produce final, accessible deliverables in PDF and HTML formats, adhering to strict quality and security standards.
  
  
  • Manage workflow and tasks efficiently within Jira.
  
  
  • Build and maintain effective working relationships with Assessment and Product team colleagues.
  
  
  
  


• Asset creation & management
  
  
  
  • Undertake the creation of digital assets (e.g., illustrations, graphics) using Adobe Illustrator, ensuring they adhere to house styles and company guidelines for future re-use.
  
  
  • Champion and implement accessibility best practices in the creation of all assets.
  
  
  
  


• Supplier management
  
  
  
  • Supporting the Typesetting Manager and Senior Typesetters by:
    
    
    
    • Reviewing materials produced by suppliers to ensure they meet house style, accessibility, and new technical workflow guidelines.
    
    
    • Create and contribute to training materials for suppliers on our evolving tools and processes.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Additional/lateral responsibilities
  
  
  
  • Contribute to cross-department work and initiatives as required.
  
  
  • Champion process improvement by actively engaging with our "content as code" philosophy.
  
  
  • Identify opportunities for automation in the typesetting and content transformation process.
  
  
  • Collaborate on evolving our structured content workflows and tooling.
  
  
  
  

Key requirements (skills & experience)

• Core
  
  
  
  • Willingness to take ownership of projects and see tasks through to completion.
  
  
  • Excellent communication skills (including a high level of competence with written and spoken English).
  
  
  • Meticulous attention to detail, thoroughness, and accuracy.
  
  
  • Strategic thinking and the ability to build strong working relationships.
  
  
  
  


• Design & Accessibility
  
  
  
  • Excellent technical design skills, with strong typography skills and an eye for layout.
  
  
  • A strong advocate for and practitioner of accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) in both print and digital formats.
  
  
  • Experience with/or understanding of Modified Large Print and/or Interactive modifications for print and digital content.
  
  
  
  


• Technical
  
  
  
  • Expert knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite, particularly InDesign, Acrobat Pro, and Illustrator.
  
  
  • Experience with workflow management tools, specifically Jira.
  
  
  • Experience with, or a strong aptitude for learning, structured content formats (e.g., XML, AsciiDoc) and working within IDEs (e.g., VS Code).
  
  
  • Comfort using command-line tools for content processing and transformation.
  
  
  • A solid understanding of HTML and CSS is essential for producing accessible digital deliverables.
  
  
  
  


• Customer Service Skills
  
  
  
  • Able to take on delegated duties outside of the day-to-day.
  
  
  • Ability to provide exceptional support and guidance to the content team during submission and return of work.
  
  
  • Strong interpersonal skills to build effective relationships with Content Production Managers and other stakeholders.
  
  
  
  

Your benefits and rewards

At Pearson, we offer a range of benefits, which include:

• 25 Days annual leave (increasing by 1 day with every year of continuous service up to 30 days); annual leave trading, +/- 5 days Annual Bonus


• Private Pension plan scheme where we pay in double what you contribute, up to 16% depending on your age


• Private medical and dental care insurance options, plus free eye tests


• Stock/share purchase options


• Maternity, paternity, and family care leave as well as flexible working policies


• An employee wellbeing assistance programme


• Cycle to work program, volunteering days, gym membership concessions in selected office locations, along with retail and leisure discounts