Art Director (12-Month Maternity Cover), Quarto Children’s Books

Do you want to lead the visual direction behind some of the world’s most distinctive illustrated children’s books?
Quarto Children’s Books is seeking an experienced and collaborative Art Director to join the team on a 12‑month maternity cover contract. In this role, you will shape and maintain the visual quality of our children’s publishing, leading design across a diverse list and helping deliver commercially successful, market‑leading books for UK, US and international audiences.

Contract  

12-month fixed-term maternity cover contract

Salary

From £45,000 per year, dependent on experience

Closing date 

18 May 2026

Working hours 

35 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. We currently operate a discretionary hybrid model, with three days in our London office and two working from home.

About the role 

Reporting to the Associate Group Publishing Director, the Art Director will provide senior design leadership across our children’s publishing, including picture books, non-fiction and gifting, ensuring consistently high-quality, commercially effective and production-ready visual publishing across all imprints and formats.

You will oversee the children’s design team, ensuring efficient workflows and supporting the delivery of visually distinctive books that are aligned with audience, market and brand objectives.

What you will be involved in:

• Leading all visual execution across children’s publishing, setting and maintaining high design standards for covers, interiors, illustration, typography and formats.
• Working closely with Editorial Directors, Publishers and cross-functional teams to translate publishing strategy into strong, commercially viable and production-ready visual publishing.
• Developing scalable and consistent visual approaches for series, brands and repeatable publishing programmes.
• Overseeing design workflows, prioritisation and resource allocation (including freelancers) to ensure projects are delivered efficiently on schedule and to a high standard.
• Line managing Senior Designers, supporting the development of design talent, and representing Quarto Children’s design externally at industry events, book fairs and creative meetings.

About you

You are an experienced design leader with a strong understanding of illustrated children’s publishing and visual storytelling. You combine creative ambition with excellent organisational and communication skills, and you are comfortable leading multiple projects and teams within a collaborative publishing environment.

You are commercially aware, visually sophisticated and passionate about creating outstanding books for children and families.

You will be able to show you can:

• Lead and develop high-performing design teams.
• Deliver consistently high-quality visual publishing across multiple formats and audiences.
• Balance creative excellence with production, scheduling and commercial realities.
• Collaborate effectively across editorial, production and commercial functions.
• Manage workflows, priorities and resources across complex publishing programmes.
• Support and develop strong visual identities for series, brands and publishing programmes.
• Build strong relationships with illustrators, designers and creative partners.

What we can offer

A supportive, open environment with development opportunities, as well as the following benefits: 

• 25 days paid holiday per year (increasing up to 30 days per year), plus bank holidays
• Cultural appreciation day (to honour a cultural holiday which is significant to you, separate to your holiday entitlement)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Staff discounts on selected shops, retailers, and restaurants
• Health Cash Plan
• Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Summer hours
• Free books scheme
• Active social and diversity committees
• Open plan, hot desking office environment

How to apply 

Please send a CV and cover letter to talent@quarto.com by the closing date and state the vacancy name in the email subject title.

Ensure you cover the following:

• Your motivation and what appeals to you about this particular role
• What key skills, experience and achievements you have that you think are relevant to this role, and why. Please provide examples of how you have used or demonstrated those.
• Where you saw the vacancy advertised

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for the vacancy.

We employ individuals based on their abilities and welcome applicants from all backgrounds regardless of disability, ethnic origin, gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, belief, age, or sexual orientation.

As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we aim to ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible for disabled people. Therefore, we encourage you to inform us of any reasonable adjustments you may require during your interview process. Please note, you only need to disclose information that you are comfortable sharing in order for us to accommodate your request.

Please note that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are only able to respond to candidates selected for interview. We will keep applications on file for 6 months should a suitable vacancy arise. If you’d rather we didn’t, please let us know with your application.

May close early due to a high volume of applications. Don't miss out—submit your application today!