We have a terrific on-site opportunity for a Senior Creative Design Packaging Manager to lead the FMCG in-house packaging design team at a leading retail brand in Cape Town.
This is an ideal opportunity for a visually talented and highly skilled Creative Design Packaging Manager who can deliver high quality, innovative and powerful packaging design solutions across brands. You should have strong general management and coaching skills to lead the Brand’s in-house Packaging Design and Finished Art teams to deliver their very best.
Your Graphic Design experience should reflect a very strong Packaging Design portfolio as you’ll be required to deliver packaging designs through the development, conceptualisation, and timeous rollouts. You will ensure everything is aligned to ensure that innovation and powerful design solutions land within the business in support of sales and operating margin growth across the brands.
The Creative Design Packaging Manager builds and manages a sustainable, internal design studio and hub, with top talent to deliver the very best in branding and packaging design for the business and South African market.
In this exciting position you will report to/provide support to the Creative Executive to maintain brand consistency and set high graphic design standards across all brands. If this excites you, let’s chat! Apply today.
Responsibilities
- To lead, manage and mentor the packaging design team, including senior and junior creative designers, finished artists, illustrators, photographers, and freelance designers in order to deliver to plan
- To develop and communicate our brand objectives, by planning, resource sourcing and multitasking workload across the internal staff and external agencies to deliver
- To ensure that all work delivered is aligned to the brand CIs as well as brand tiering and brand architecture
- To ensure and maintain brand consistency in-line with relevant marketing strategies and Corporate Identity guidelines thus accurate implementation across all sub-brands are key
- To collaborate with industry leaders to foster inspiration & learnings as well as the know-how of keeping up with international trends in order to continually bring an edge to the Brand’s in-house label design continually
- To recruit, retain and develop the best design talent in order to deliver the best in class and invest in the future of the Brand’s in-house label
- To lead and create innovative spaces by leading brainstorming sessions to promote design thinking to achieve the highest standard in creativity and ensuring all briefs are met
- To manage budgets and costings across all resources to ensure the company remains within budget constraints
- To work closely with traffic, client services and the Creative Executive to ensure smooth workflow and delivery of work, while ensuring the team’s creative brief is understood and executed within respective deadlines
- To maintain good client relationships as well as create strong partnerships with the marketing teams in order to co-create content and campaigns, which complement our brand equities making a real impact with consumers
- To maintain responsibility for all freelance hiring, rate negotiation and management whilst making sure the internal design team is working as efficiently as possible
- To perform the sourcing of and directing outside resources i.e.: production agency, photographer, make-up artists, stylists’ illustrators, and models, while building and maintaining professional relationships with a network of resources
- To provide a strong support base to the Creative Executive to create the best sustainable design agency & design hub with top South African talent.
Requirements
The successful candidate must have/be:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communications/Graphic Design & Art or equivalent Graphic Design qualification
- At least 10 years packaging and brand design experience with an outstanding working knowledge of concept artwork, finished Art and all print & packaging processes
- Minimum 7 years management experience in leading teams, conducting performance reviews & measurements
- Experience of developing high performing design teams
- Strategic and creative design thinking
- Strong knowledge of packaging construction, holistic design solutions, brands CIs and implementation thereof essential
- Strong market and trend related knowledge
- Excellent knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite CC: Illustrator, Photoshop, In-design.
- A strong understanding of design management systems and studio workflow to drive efficiencies
- Strong understanding of all printing processes
- Strong understanding of manufacturing best practices relating to quality checks and high standards of consistency
- Robust understanding of the various brand CIs as well as brand tiering and brand architecture
- Resilience under pressure
- Strong verbal and communications skills
- Budget management skills
- Excellent working knowledge of language and copy
- Strong influencing and presentation skills
- Delivering against demanding deadlines
- Excellent conceptualisation and packaging design skills
- Team player
- Able to lead and supervise
- Persuasive and influencing
- Able to apply expertise and technology
- Creative and innovative
- Able to deliver results & meet customer expectations
- Adaptable and responsive to change
- Entrepreneurial and commercial thinking.
Please submit a PDF/link to a relevant portfolio along with your CV on application.
Should you not receive a response within 10 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Preference will be given, but not limited to, candidates from designated groups in terms of the Employment Equity Act.
