Creative Assistant Designer - Children's Books

Pan Macmillan UK is one of the largest general book publishers in the UK, with imprints including Macmillan, Mantle, Pan, Picador, Boxtree, Sidgwick & Jackson, Bello, Tor, Kingfisher, Macmillan Children's Books, Two Hoots, Bluebird, Campbell Books, Macmillan New Writing and Macmillan Digital Audio. Pan Macmillan is part of Macmillan Publishers International Limited.

Administration

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly creative, motivated, and organized Assistant Designer to join the Campbell Books design team at Macmillan Children’s Books, working on an innovative and diverse list of novelty books for children aged 0–6.

Your team: The Campbell list is rich and diverse and is full of all types of novelty books for children aged 0–6. We are looking for a highly creative, motivated, and organized assistant designer to join our team. We’re very proud of our small design team and the fun and beautiful books we create. We aim to make an environment where you’ll thrive, learn and grow as a designer.
Your role: Reporting to the Art Director, you will play a critical role in supporting the design team. In this busy, stimulating, and wide-ranging role, you will assist with vital administrative design tasks, work on existing and new novelty design projects, and hone your creative skills. You will also collaborate closely with the Editorial, Production, Communications, and Sales teams to help bring our preschool titles from initial concept to final approval.

• Concept & visual development: Work with the Art Director and design team on new titles throughout the publishing process, including creating and developing engaging visual concepts, polished visuals, and physical dummies for internal use and sales presentations.
• List management: Assist in the creation and development of backlist, reissue, re-use, and re-jacketed titles, as well as working on brand-new projects from the initial stage to final approval.
• Cross-departmental collaboration: Liaise closely with Editorial and Production teams regarding project briefings, schedules, proofing, and corrections, and ensuring alignment on design deliverables.
• Production support: Support the design team in preparing and delivering print-ready files to the Production team, ensuring all technical specifications and schedules are met.
• Stakeholder engagement: Establish effective communication with the Sales and Comms teams to understand their design needs and expectations, providing highly finished visual assets for presentations.
• Freelance coordination: Commission and manage external freelancers, including illustrators and designers, under management supervision.
• Team support: Provide comprehensive administrative and design support across the team, assisting senior designers as and when needed.
• Tech integration: Explore and engage with evolving creative tools, such as AI, safely and effectively within the design team’s workflow.

Essential experience, abilities and knowledge you’ll need to succeed:

• Design foundation: A creative eye supported by a portfolio that reflects an interest in physical print design, layout, or children’s media, with a readiness to develop these skills further.
• Software knowledge: Practical experience using Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator on an Apple Mac platform.
• Organization & prioritization: Effective organizational skills with a proven ability to manage multiple project tasks simultaneously and prioritize workloads effectively to meet deadlines.
• Communication & collaboration: Clear and collaborative written and spoken communication skills, with a proactive, supportive approach to working within a team and cross-departmentally.
• Production awareness: A basic understanding of printing processes and a strong willingness to learn the unique requirements of novelty book manufacturing.
• Inclusion and representation: An active dedication to promoting diverse voices and inclusive practices, taking personal responsibility for ensuring our workplace and publishing reflect the communities we serve.
• Community: A collaborative approach to building a supportive and vibrant environment.
• Curiosity: A strong drive for learning…