This is a rare opportunity to join the award-wining Design team at Vintage.

About Vintage 

At Vintage, we publish thought-provoking writing from authors of all backgrounds, including trail-blazing classics and books that speak urgently to our times. Which means our broad family of authors ranges from world-class prize-winners to brand new, emerging talent. Think Sarah Perry, Anne Enright, Margaret Atwood, Caroline Criado Perez, Gabrielle Zevin, Jo Nesbo, Ian McEwan, Tim Spector, Oliver Burkeman, Ai Weiwei and Megan Nolan. 

The Opportunity

The role of Deputy Art Director will be varied, as you will work across all of our imprints, reporting to the Creative Director. You will join a design team of nine, including a picture editor and design manager. Our studio is based in the Penguin Random House offices at Embassy Gardens London.

Excellence in design is at the heart of Vintage’s publishing programme and creativity is at the centre of everything we do. Our design team have won many awards, including the V&A and ABCD Design Awards, and their work has been exhibited across Europe. Suzanne Dean, our Creative Director, won the British Book Award for Designer of the Year 2023 and is a regular spokesperson on design for the publishing industry.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsibility for a large range of the highest profile books jackets & covers – interpreting briefs, producing effective, high-quality designs of assigned titles within establisher budgets & guidelines

• Identifying and developing concepts/initiating ideas/new approaches/styles

• Representing the Design Department at cover meetings in the Art Director’s absence

• Attending a variety of other meetings, to ensure the Design Department is fully represented

• Providing support and giving on-going advice to more junior designers

• Assisting the Art Director in handling any management/people issues within the department

• Deputising as necessary for the Art Director in all matters

• Meeting with authors in conjunction with Editors, where appropriate to design

• Utilising strong market awareness to identify where changes are needed and helping to drive these forward within the department

• Commissioning all levels of design, illustration, photography including negotiating fees and arranging schedules

• Supporting the Art Director on daily basis in communications about the department and any design related matters

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will work within the design team, assisting and supporting the Creative Director and be able to deputise for them in their absence. You should be supportive of the team and be happy to work collaboratively, taking and giving feedback, and respond to constructive criticism in a calm and professional manner.

You will be a dynamic creative with significant experience in design. You will already have a portfolio of outstanding book cover designs that shows confidence in designing for all areas of the market. You must be highly organised, proactive and be able to handle multiple projects at one time. You should appreciate the importance of good quality and timely delivery of work in and out of the department.

You will be able to demonstrate experience in working and communicating with senior colleagues in other departments to ensure that key deadlines are. The Deputy Art Director will take ownership and responsibility for leading the design of titles and series from concept to finished product, working on strategy and managing schedules and budgets.

You should have expert skills in InDesign and Photoshop.

Application Instructions

Please apply by midnight on Sunday 7th April with CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role. Please also attach three jpegs that best represent your work.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: c. £65,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits. 

Competitive benefits package:

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.

Our benefits include:

Financial – income protection, life assurance, childcare allowance

Wellbeing - healthcare cash plan, critical illness cover, health checks

Lifestyle – enhanced parental leave, tech scheme

For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer/

Hybrid working:

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. At Vintage, we consider what environment enables the best work for individuals, teams and the company. Vintage colleagues work from our Embassy Gardens office on Tuesdays and Thursday and, once team and divisional considerations have been taken into account, have the flexibility to choose where to work on other days of the week.

The recruitment process:

You can read about our recruitment process at https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/how-we-hire/

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: Penguin Books Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: SW11 7BW 

Job ID: 268977