Description

Closing Date: 30-Jun-2024

Are you a talented and visionary designer looking to make a significant impact?
We are seeking a Design Lead to join our dynamic Brand division on an initial 6-month FTC, to play a crucial role in shaping the visual identity of Penguin.
This is an incredible opportunity to be a part of a historic milestone for one of the most beloved and enduring brands in the literary world. As our Design Lead, you will play a crucial role in the delivery of a wide range of deliverables and events throughout 2025, including our 90th Birthday celebrations.
In this role, you will have the opportunity to develop innovative concepts and designs across various Penguin touchpoints, including our website, social channels, print and digital platforms. You'll be at the forefront of creating stand-alone designs as well as leading brand or book-led campaigns that span a diverse range of internal and external touchpoints.
As our Design Lead, you'll be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the design process, from ideation to delivery. Your expertise will be crucial in leading projects, managing key stakeholders, and collaborating with external creative partners. In addition to your design responsibilities, you will also inspire and mentor junior members of the creative team, while actively contributing to the brand and marketing department. Your enthusiasm and understanding of the broader impact of design on the Penguin brand will be instrumental in shaping our audience's experience both internally and externally.
As our Design Lead, you will not only be responsible for creating exceptional work but also be the go-to person for design-related decisions and guidance within the wider team. Your insights and suggestions will be invaluable in ensuring that all communications align with our brand, while also identifying opportunities for collaboration.
Your responsibilities will include:
Developing creative concepts to meet a wide range of briefs across the Penguin business.
Utilising our brand strategy to generate effective and innovative creative solutions.
Interpreting and scrutinising briefs, considering how Penguin's communications work together.
Leading and managing the design team and workflow, including freelancers.
Collaborating with creative partners such as photographers, illustrators, copywriters, and retouchers.
Creating compelling presentations that showcase creative solutions and their alignment with our briefs and brand strategy.
What you’ll bring:
You’ll be skilled in executing high-quality design and typography.
You’ll have experience collaborating with creative teams, design agencies, freelancers and partners.
You’ll be a confident and natural leader, capable of hosting meetings with ease and comfortable to manage a small team.
You’ll be proficient in directing photoshoots and experienced in campaign development.
You’ll be a real team player and effective communicator, comfortable to build great working relationships with colleagues across Penguin.
You’ll be a resourceful problem solver, taking initiative in design challenges.
You have a strong understanding of UX and UI.
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.
Our approach to hybrid working:
While our offices are places for you to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, having flexibility about where you work is just as important for doing your best work and for your wellbeing. So, we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how we work across Penguin Random House UK.
For this role, there are regular meetings and activities that you will need to attend in person mainly at our offices in London. Outside of these moments, you can choose to work remotely.
The exact balance of office to remote working can be discussed with your future manager during the recruitment process. What we can say now is that you won’t need to go into the office five days a week, unless of course you want to!
If you have a passion for design and a keen eye for detail, we want to hear from you. Please apply with your CV and cover letter or portfolio by 11:59pm on Sunday 30th June.
What you can expect from us:
Salary: circa £50,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.
Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition. Our benefits include:
Financial – income protection, life assurance, childcare allowance
Wellbeing – healthcare cash plan, critical illness cover, health checks
Lifestyle – enhanced parental leave, tech scheme, free and discounted books
For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer
You can read about our recruitment process at https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/how-we-hire/
As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we're part of the offer an interview scheme. This is where disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role can opt in to get to the next recruitment stage. There may be some situations where volume of applicants means we can't take all eligible candidates to interview.
We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.