Senior Designer, PRH Children’s

Penguin Random House; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Income Protection

Health assessment

Gym flex

Life event leave

Dental insurance

Cycle scheme

Job summary

Penguin Random House Children’s Puffin 6+ team is hiring a talented Senior Designer on a permanent basis. You’ll lead the full design process for titles from concept to print and collaborate with editors, production, sales and rights to meet creative and commercial goals.

You’ll bring a strong portfolio in children’s fiction publishing, with excellent Adobe Creative Suite skills and a proactive, collaborative approach in a hybrid London-based role requiring three days in the office weekly.

Qualifications

• A highly creative portfolio with experience in children’s fiction publishing including illustrated fiction and YA.
• Understanding of the commercial publishing landscape and current visual trends.
• Ability to generate original creative ideas across formats and lead launches.
• Excellent design skills and ability to balance ambition with budget and timelines.

Responsibilities

• Generate original ideas and creative approaches.
• Lead projects from pitch to print through all stages.
• Commission and art direct illustrators and designers; nurture emerging talent.
• Provide regular input into creative meetings.
• Keep up with publishing design trends and conduct proactive research.
• Build partnerships with illustrators, authors and external contacts.
• Collaborate with editorial, production, sales, rights, marketing and publicity teams.
• Balance creative ambition with commercial priorities.
• Plan and manage schedules to align priorities and workflow.

Skills

Creative portfolio

Children's publishing experience

Adobe Creative Suite

Project management

Art direction

Commissioning illustrators

Print production

Budget management

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a talented and highly creative Senior Designer to join the Puffin 6+ team on a permanent basis.

About the team

By bringing together the greatest stories, brands and authors of any global children’s publisher, Penguin Random House Children’s create and rediscover heroes for each new generation.

Puffin is home to so many imaginative and best-selling authors and illustrators – and we believe children need choice and opportunities to discover the books they will love. Our designers work on a huge range of different books, but what they all have in common is clever creativity, strong commercial instinct and outstanding design.

The role

Reporting to the Deputy Art Director you will work across a wide range of titles, focusing on the fiction list – from colour books for developing readers through to YA and New Adult titles, and in every genre.

As Senior Designer, you will take responsibility for the full design process of titles, from early concept development and visual research through to print ready files. You will lead projects, commission illustrators and creatives, and work closely with colleagues in Editorial, Production, Sales and Rights to ensure each book meets its creative vision, market positioning and commercial goals.

This role suits someone who thrives in a fast-paced, hands-on environment, is confident presenting ideas, and combines big-picture creative thinking with strong technical expertise and attention to detail.

Key responsibilities:

• Generate original ideas and creative approaches.

• Lead projects from pitch to print, driving them through all stages.

• Commission and art direct illustrators and designers, identifying and nurturing emerging talent to deliver distinctive market-leading work.

• Regular and ongoing input into creative meetings.

• Keeping up to date with current design trends in publishing and the wider creative industries, bringing proactive research to deliver fresh thinking.

• Build strong creative partnerships with high-profile illustrators, authors, and other external contacts.

• Build strong relationships with colleagues including editorial, sales, production, rights, marketing and publicity teams.

• Balance creative ambition with commercial priorities.

• Effective communication including strong negotiation skills, ensuring spend is managed effectively.

• Planning and management of schedules to align priorities and workflow.

What you’ll bring

Essential criteria:

• A highly creative portfolio with specific experience in children’s fiction publishing including illustrated fiction and YA, demonstrating work on commercially successful titles and brands

• A clear understanding of the commercial publishing landscape

• A demonstrable interest in and understanding of the children’s publishing market, including current illustrators, authors, brands and visual trends.

• The ability to generate original creative ideas across a range of formats

• Proven experience in developing titles from concept through to launch, supported by a strong commercial approach

• Excellent technical design skills with advanced knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite and print production processes.

• A flexible, agile and solutions-focused approach.

• Experience championing creative ideas, with the ability to pivot and respond positively and at pace to changing priorities.

• Demonstrable experience sourcing, commissioning and building effective relationships with illustrators and freelance designers

• Strong project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects with different lead times.

• The ability to deliver accurate, high-quality work on schedule and within budget, balancing creative ambition with the time and investment available.

• The ability to keep all administration and file management up-to-date and accurate.

Salary

Circa £41,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

Hybrid working

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role we expect that you’llwork from our London office a minimum of three days per week.

AI

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.

We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing [e-mail]. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request.

About Penguin

We’re the UK’s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you’ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

Additional Information

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here.

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address.

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here.

Benefits

• Income Protection
• Health assessment
• Gym flex
• Life event leave
• Dental insurance
• Cycle scheme