Senior Designer

Job Summary

We’re looking for an experienced designer with a sophisticated eye to take ownership of how Saqi looks, from the page to the shelf and the screen. This is a senior, hands‑on role for someone who combines excellent design skills with strong creative judgement and the confidence to work independently.

About Saqi Books

Saqi Books is an independent London publisher with over four decades of publishing bold writing on the Middle East and beyond. Our list spans art, politics, history, fiction and memoir, unified by a commitment to clarity, rigour and voice. We’re a small, ambitious team, and design is central to how our books reach readers. We care about books as objects as much as the ideas they carry.

Responsibilities

The role: Most of your time will go on the craft at the heart of the list: designing and typesetting interiors, adapting covers for paperback editions and creating the marketing assets that carry our books into the world. You’ll also commission and art direct freelance designers and illustrators, shaping their work and ensuring a distinctive and consistent visual identity across the list.

You’ll work closely with Editorial, Sales and Marketing, bringing ideas, challenging assumptions where necessary and maintaining high standards from initial concept through to final production. There’s considerable scope to develop and evolve Saqi’s visual language, bringing creative ambition to a publishing house with a distinctive identity and an ambitious list.

• Design and typeset new titles, paperback editions and reprints to a consistently high standard
• Create marketing assets for each title across social, digital, print and events
• Commission and art direct freelance cover designers and illustrators, from briefing through to final artwork
• Adapt covers for paperback editions
• Develop and maintain visual identities across series and the wider Saqi brand
• Work with Editorial, Sales and Marketing to ensure design is distinctive, coherent and effective
• Manage design schedules and workflows across the list, ensuring projects are delivered to deadline
• Work with printers on quotes, specifications and files through to press

Requirements

• At least 5 years’ experience in publishing design or a closely related field
• A strong portfolio demonstrating a sophisticated aesthetic across typography, book interiors, covers and visual identity
• Expert typesetting skills in InDesign, plus strong proficiency in Photoshop and Illustrator
• Experience commissioning and art directing freelance designers and illustrators
• Strong knowledge of print production, specifications and working with suppliers
• The ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines without compromising quality
• Confidence working independently, exercising creative judgement and challenging decisions when necessary
• A genuine interest in books and the ideas, cultures and perspectives they bring into the world

Nice to have

• Experience working within an independent press or small publishing team
• Experience setting text containing transliterated Arabic or other non‑English names
• Experience across both editorial and marketing design

Location & Salary

Location: London (hybrid)

Hours: Part‑time, 3 days a week (22.5 hours)

Salary: £35,000-£40,000 FTE (pro rata for 3 days), depending on experience, plus bonus and benefits

Benefits

• 32 days’ holiday (including bank holidays)
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Contributory pension
• Birthday leave / personal day
• Paid volunteer day
• Hybrid and flexible working

Contact for more info : [emailprotected]