Designer, Product and Service Development (London or Leeds)
Employer: BookTrust
Location: Hybrid with minimum 8 office days per month, in either the London or Leeds office
Working hours: 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £40,000 - £45,000 per annum
Closing date: Friday, August 15, 2025
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BookTrust
BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. We know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic, and more creative. They also do better at school.
Working with every local authority and across every region in the country, and supported by Arts Council funding, we reach over 3 million families a year via partners in schools, children’s centres, health visitors and libraries. This incredible network helps us to get children reading across the country.
To apply please complete the application along with a copy of your CV and covering letter showing how you meet the person specification and your motivations for applying for the role. Your covering letter should not be longer than two sides.
Want to join us? Find out more about who we are at: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/work-at-booktrust/
Job Summary
We are looking for an experienced Designer to lead Product and Service Development priorities from our growing Design and Innovation Team at BookTrust.
The Designer, Product and Service Development will lead on activating the key design priorities that have come out of our new strategy. The successful candidate will need to be a multiskilled, ambidextrous designer who can apply human-centered design approaches to online and offline products/services and design end-to-end experiences.
We’re looking for someone with a track record of working with multiple functional teams to design brilliant products and/or services and who has hands-on, practical design experience.
The successful candidate would be involved in projects such as; developing a new group storytelling offer, setting up new co-design cohorts and experimenting with approaches, leading the definition of a new age range product for our early years subscription Story Explorers.
Key Deliverables include
Lead the design of new products or re-fresh our existing products using design thinking/human-centered approaches. This may include a variety of types of online and offline products incl digital touchpoints and content, in person experiences, resources and books, engagement and training.
Work with our Research & Impact team to establish a robust design learning approach, that supports us to make rapid progress in designing and delivering new or improved products.
Work closely with our supply chain, IT, digital, books and content teams to develop prototypes and pilots that will test and refine our product offerings.
Build strong relationships and influence at all levels and across multidisciplinary teams
Support the transfer of new/re-developed products into business as usual by engaging and briefing key delivery teams and maintaining oversight of the product.
Create excellent documentation including concept boards and low fidelity prototypes, process maps, ecosystem maps, journey maps and design briefs to enable product design.
Work with the relevant D&I team lead to make sure design work aligns to the strategic plan and ambition.
Key Experiences Include
Has strong practical experience of using design thinking or human centered design approaches to develop new or improve existing products and services (at least 3 years)
Has an understanding of and experience working across the end-to-end design lifecycle from creating hypotheses, research, synthesising, ideation, prototyping, testing, and iterating.
Has good workshop design and facilitation skills and can get the best out of cross-functional teams.
Can adapt their approach to suit different stakeholders and working styles – values progress over perfection.
Is excited by joining a changing team and transforming organisation.
Is comfortable doing user testing and research as part of their design work.
Can execute prototypes and pilots, drawing on cross-organisational skills and expertise.
Is experienced in designing products that are online, offline or a combination of the two.
Has worked in or with an operationally complex organisation/business and is adept at balancing different perspectives and designing to meet a variety of ‘business needs’ as well as user needs.
Knows that brilliant collaboration is at the heart of design.
Experience in using systems such as Miro
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity
We aim to provide an inclusive recruitment process and actively welcome applications from diverse talent pools: minority ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities and long-term conditions and candidates from underrepresented communities.
We are committed to equality of opportunity and want to ensure we have an accessible application process for all candidates. If you need any reasonable adjustments or would like us to do anything differently during the application process, please contact our HR team on HR@booktrust.org.uk to discuss your requirements further.
BookTrust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The recruitment and selection process reflect our commitment to safeguarding therefore, the suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment, and pre-employment checks.
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