Senior Designer - DK Travel

Are you a creative, talented, and imaginative Book Designer with a passion for travel?

DK Travel is seeking a Senior Designer to join our expanding team and lead the way in taking our travel publications to new heights with innovative design. We are looking for someone who can bring fresh ideas to the table and expertly manage multiple projects at various stages of development.

As the world’s leading illustrated non-fiction publisher, DK Travel is seeking an enthusiastic and creative individual to work across our growing list of gift and inspiration books such as Viva Mexico, Hello South Korea, The Travel Bucket List and Road Trips of the USA.

The ideal candidate will have a strong design sensibility, a keen eye for detail, and the ability to create visually stunning layouts. You will confidently present your ideas to stakeholders and work closely with the Managing Art Editor to shape the creative vision of our expanding lifestyle-oriented Gift and Inspiration list.

This role is for you if you thrive in a collaborative environment, enjoy mentoring junior members of the team, and are eager to explore innovative approaches to design. You will be an expert at juggling multiple projects, take ownership of your work, and be passionate about delivering the highest quality design.

Some key responsibilities include:

• Leading the creation of mood boards and styling for books
• Presenting ideas and concepts to key stakeholders
• Taking on full ownership and management of book projects
• Creating and commissioning pitch material
• Organising and commissioning photoshoots, and briefing picture researchers
• Briefing design freelancers and sourcing and commissioning illustrations
• Mentoring junior members of the team

To succeed, you will be well-organised, market-aware, and possess a solid publishing background with experience in sourcing and collaborating with illustrators. Your strong verbal and written communication skills will be essential, along with the ability to produce eye-catching designs. Previous experience in Lifestyle or Travel publishing is highly desirable.

In return, you will have the opportunity to work within a truly collaborative and global business where you have the freedom to make a real impact if you’re willing to put in the hard work. This role is currently office-based for a minimum of three days a week, as part of DK’s hybrid working approach.

If you are ready to elevate your design career at DK Travel and lead our publications in a new direction, we want to hear from you. To apply, please upload your portfolio, most recent CV and a cover letter to be considered. We will only consider applications with a pdf of your design portfolio with publishing design examples.

We want to see what represents you, so please include your most recent and proudest work in your portfolio submission.

We want to learn about you, so in your cover letter, please include the following:

• Why do you want to work at DK and/or in Travel?
• What design trends have you seen emerging in book publishing?
• What are 3 non-DK travel books you think contain inspiring and/or successful design and why?

Closing date for applications: 24 November 2024

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
• 60% discount on company books
• Cycle to work scheme and discounted gym membership
• Flex fridays (1pm Finish*)
• Shopping discounts
• Up to 30 days remote working from abroad

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.

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

*Subject to certain criteria being met.