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.

Your responsibilities:

• 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 their own titles and sharing skills, knowledge and ideas with the wider team

You must have:

• 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)

• A positive, problem‑solving mindset and a team‑focused approach

• Experience managing multiple projects and delivering to deadlines

• A strong book publishing background

Desireable

• Experience with project management tools such as Asana is advantageous but not essential

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

If you are ready to bring your creative expertise and passion to DK Plus, please submit a PDF portfolio of your best work, your CV and a covering letter explaining why you think you’re right for the role by midnight on 7 June. Applications without a PDF portfolio will not be considered.

We are eager to see your own unique voice and talent, not the words generated by an AI tool. Please refrain from using AI in this application.

Closing date for applications: Sunday 7 June 2026

We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible, as this vacancy may close early.

Salary: £38,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits

We have a range of benefits to reflect our commitment to our people, some of which are:

• 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 (1pm Finish*)

• Up to 30 days remote working from abroad*

*Subject to certain criteria being met.

And we plant a tree for every new employee to our business

DK is committed to building a diverse workforce that reflects the varied communities that read our books across the world. 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 supports flexible working and has introduced a new ‘smart-working’ policy with a hybrid approach of working weekly from home and in DK’s office. This is a hybrid role requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in our Pimlico office. As this is non-negotiable, please ensure you are within a reasonable commuting distance of London before applying.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade, but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews or undertaking internships. For more information, visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org

About our Company: 

We believe in the power of discovery. That's why we create books for everyone that explore ideas and nurture curiosity about the world we live in. From first words to the Big Bang, from the wonders of nature to city adventures, you will find expert knowledge, hours of fun and endless inspiration in the pages of our books. 

We are the world's leading illustrated publisher and a member of the Penguin Random House division of Bertelsmann, creating cutting-edge design and stunning visual books for the whole family. We are passionate about inspiring curiosity and bring people to books through their thirst for knowledge. With a global book loving community of over 800 colleagues in the UK, US, Germany, India, China, Spain and Australia, we produce books in over 100 countries and over 60 languages. Find out more on dk.com.

 Company: Dorling Kindersley Limited | Job ID: 289059