Book Design Lead: Creative Direction & Licensing

Do you love creating imaginative, eye-catching designs that bring stories to life? Are you passionate about the challenge of turning a great idea into a beautifully illustrated book? If so, DK Plus is looking for a skilled and experienced Project Designer to join our growing Play team. You will work on a diverse range of titles including licensed collaborations with LEGO, Minecraft, Pokemon, Crunchyroll and other exciting brands. Our list is expanding rapidly and we are looking for someone who can bring expertise, fresh ideas and a collaborative spirit to help shape its future.

We are looking for a resourceful, versatile mid-weight designer who can run multiple projects from concept to completion, commissioning and briefing freelance designers, illustrators, organising and directing photoshoots, liaising with licensors and working closely with editorial partners. While some hands-on design will be part of the role, the main focus will be on creative direction, problem solving and ensuring every book meets the highest standards in style, quality and storytelling. We are looking for a proactive designer who is confident handling relationships with freelancers and licensors, and enjoys working as part of a supportive, creative team. We want you to bring your own creative ideas and direction to our books. In return, we're happy to nurture and develop that talent! You'll be key to keeping our titles fresh and relevant, so a strong commercial awareness of the competition is a must.

• Commissioning and briefing freelance illustrators, designers and other creatives.
• Overseeing design across full colour photographic and illustrated titles, and some mono titles.
• Collaborating with your editorial partner to shape content, create flatplans and develop visual styling.
• Designing covers and spreads where required, from templates to final artwork.
• Managing budgets, schedules and workflows to deliver projects on time and to the highest quality.
• Attending title reviews and team meetings.
• Building strong relationships with licensors and freelancers.
• Project managing own titles and sharing skills, knowledge and ideas with the wider team.
• Ensuring every book meets the highest standards in style, quality and storytelling.

• Proven experience as a book designer, ideally with full colour photographic and illustrated licensed titles.
• Confident commissioning and briefing skills, with experience guiding photographers, illustrators and other creatives.
• Strong typography and layout skills, with proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop).
• Positive, problem-solving mindset and a team-focused approach.
• Experience managing multiple projects and delivering to deadlines.
• Strong book publishing background.
• Experience with project management tools such as Asana (advantageous but not essential).

Role is office-based at least three days per week. Tuesday and Wednesday are team in-office days, with your third day ideally between Monday and Thursday.

Salary: £38,000 depending on your skills and experience, plus bonus and benefits.

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement in year one, plus bank holidays.
• Generous pension scheme.
• Volunteering policy and charity matching.
• Employee assistance programme.
• Cycle to work scheme and discounted gym membership.
• Shopping discounts.
• Flex Fridays (1 pm finish).
• Up to 30 days remote working from abroad (subject to certain criteria being met).

We encourage applications from all individuals, regardless of age, religion, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or social background. DK is proud to announce that we have adopted The Halo Code. DK is a member of the disability confident scheme. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies.

DK is committed to building a diverse workforce that reflects the varied communities that read our books across the world. We plant a tree for every new employee we have.