Designer, Penguin Workshop (Open to Remote)

Penguin Workshop Books, an imprint in the Penguin Young Readers division of Penguin Random House, is searching for a Designer for our growing Young Adult Novel, Middle Grade Novel, and Illustrated Middle Grade list on a children’s book design team in an exciting, collaborative, fast-paced environment that also has a lot of humor and heart. The Designer will focus on all stages of book development, from manuscript through bound book—covers, interiors, and art direction. This position will report to the Art Director and collaborate closely with the editors, illustrators, authors, managing editors, and production managers. 

We seek an enthusiastic designer who will embrace the challenge of creating beautiful books and enriching each author’s and illustrator’s vision. Our ideal candidate is eager to learn, creative, motivated, organized, detail-oriented, collaborative, imaginative, inventive, enthusiastic about children’s publishing, and has a love of books and artwork in general. 

This talented designer should be ready on day one to take a manuscript and shape it from the design concepts and editorial requests through all subsequent passes to the finished book. We are looking for excellent design skills, a unique vision, and a designer who will elevate the look and feel of each book, creating eye-catching, striking cover designs, and who will bring a sense of playfulness and inventiveness to the title treatments and typography. This designer should be familiar with the book structure and layout, creating clean and kid-friendly page layouts and type design. This designer should have experience composing interiors, with an eye for typography, and a detailed touch that are all central to creating an interior design that supports the reader. This designer will be an active participant in seeking new talented illustrators. 

We work very collaboratively with our illustrators, so excellent communication skills and experience with writing feedback are a must. This designer will be the illustrator’s point person, compiling editorial feedback and providing guidance and art direction through all phases of art development. We are looking for a designer with an eye and sense for visual storytelling—someone who will consider the visual pacing of the story, the page flips, the variety from spread to spread, and someone who is considering the most effective ways of combining art and text to enhance the reading experience.

Penguin Workshop’s YA list includes First Love Language which is a Forbes Most-Anticipated YA Book of 2025, The New Queer Conscience which is Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and Night Swimming. Our middle grade list includes the critically acclaimed Whale Eyes, the best-selling series Lei and the Legends and Puggleton Park, and Crushing It which is an ALA Rainbow Book List title. Penguin Workshop publishes books for all ages such as the Caldecott Honor winner Home in a Lunchbox, Eisner award winners Danger and Other Unknown Risks and Bigfoot and Nessie, Pura Belpré Honor winner Across the Bay, Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor winner A Pig, a Fox, and a Box, and the #1 New York Times best-selling Who Was? series. Under the Penguin Workshop umbrella we publish the imprints of The World of Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar), Grosset & Dunlap (The Little Engine That Could), Rise (First Conversations), Frederick Warne (Peter Rabbit), Mad Libs, and we partner with top licensors such as Bluey. 

Specific responsibilities include:

• Working with the Art Director, this Designer will immediately hit the ground running, taking ownership of their own titles in all aspects of book making from concepting, designing, review of sketches and art, to type design, to color proofing
• Designing covers and interior sample pages for approximately 20-25 books a year for YA, middle-grade novels, and illustrated middle-grade
• Executing a broad range of design styles that are appropriate for various age groups and formats with a strong sense of inventive typography and title branding is important
• Working collaboratively with the Art Director and all members of the design, editorial, production and in-house teams
• Finding and pitching illustrators and working with them to take a project from start to finish.  
• Communicating effectively with artists and agents
• Maintaining priorities and adhering to production schedules and deadlines
• Keeping up to date on the YA and middle grade market with a lens for cover trends, genre, and audience

Please apply if you meet the following qualifications:

• A minimum of three years of experience in YA and middle grade publishing book design
• One year of graphic novel experience is a plus
• Attention to detail is a must
• A portfolio showcasing strong design and typography. Hand-lettering and illustration skills a plus but not required. (Please note that this is not an illustration job.) 
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator) with emphasis on InDesign
• Knowledge of color correction, prepress, file preparation, and proofing for print design
• Ability to work on multiple projects with strict timelines in a fast-paced environment
• Active involvement in the illustrator community and the ability to seek out new talent

The salary for this position is $66,500.  All positions are currently eligible for annual profit award or bonus, subject to Company results.

Please apply using our ATS system by April 26, 2025, and include your resume, cover letter, and remember to attach your PDF portfolio or portfolio link to your digital application for consideration. Before applying for any role at Penguin Random House, we recommend you review our applicant resources page and look over our open-to-remote guidelines on our FAQs page.

Penguin Random House job postings include a good faith compensation range for each open position. The salary range listed is specific to each particular open position and takes into account various factors including the specifics of the individual role, and candidate's relevant experience and qualifications.

Full-time employees are eligible for our comprehensive benefits program. Our range of benefits include, but are not limited to, Medical/Prescription drug insurance, Dental, Vision, Health Care/Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, Health Savings Account, Pre-Tax and Roth 401(k), Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance, Life/AD&D Insurance, Commuter Benefits, Student Loan Repayment Program, Educational Assistance & generous paid time off.

Penguin Random House is the leading adult and children's publishing house in North America, the United Kingdom and many other regions around the world. In publishing the best books in every genre and subject for all ages, we are committed to quality, excellence in execution, and innovation throughout the entire publishing process: editorial, design, marketing, publicity, sales, production, and distribution. Our vibrant and diverse international community of nearly 300 publishing brands and imprints include Ballantine Bantam Dell, Berkley, Clarkson Potter, Crown, DK, Doubleday, Dutton, Grosset & Dunlap, Little Golden Books, Knopf, Modern Library, Pantheon, Penguin Books, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House Audio, Penguin Young Readers, Portfolio, Puffin, Putnam, Random House, Random House Children's Books, Riverhead, Ten Speed Press, Viking, and Vintage, among others. More information can be found at http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/.<http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/>

Penguin Random House values the array of talents and perspectives that a diverse workforce brings. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.

Company: Penguin Random House LLC 

Country: United States of America 

State/Region: New York 

City: New York 

Postal Code: 10019 

Job ID: 279232