Senior Graphic Designer

Cove Soda; Halifax; Hybrid; CAD 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

Cove Drinks Inc. is seeking a Senior Graphic Designer to bring the Cove brand to life across digital, retail, product, and campaigns. The role blends hands-on design with art direction, packaging, and 3D renders, working within established brand guidelines.

AI tools should accelerate concepting and production while preserving brand integrity. The candidate will collaborate with the Creative Director and external partners, handling social, packaging, and merchandising assets, with hybrid

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of graphic design experience in CPG or fast-paced brands
• Strong portfolio across brand design, packaging, digital campaigns
• Hands-on, production-level AI design tools experience
• Packaging artwork from concept to press-ready files
• Experience briefing and art-directing photographers or illustrators
• Strong layout, typography, color, and production fundamentals
• Bachelor's degree preferred; portfolio may substitute

Responsibilities

• Produce high-quality visual assets across digital, print, retail, trade, and social channels
• Execute brand guidelines consistently across typography, color, imagery, and layout
• Create 3D and product renders — digital renders, shipper mockups, and key-visual backgrounds
• Design apparel and branded merchandise from concept through production-ready files
• Design trade show and event booths, activations, and sampling setups with 3D renders
• Maintain and apply Cove's design systems and templates accurately
• Flag opportunities to improve or refresh templates and assets
• Design landing pages and Shopify storefront updates, and build them where skilled
• Support video needs for social, paid media, and product launches
• Design polished decks and presentations for sales, retail buyers, and investors
• Produce launch assets for products and seasonal campaigns
• Turn around asset variations and resizes across channels
• Build dielines and press-ready artwork for packaging

Skills

Brand design

Packaging design

AI design tools

Art direction

Typography

Education

Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design or related field

Tools

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Blender

Cinema 4D

KeyShot

Job description

LOCATION: Hybrid in Halifax, Nova Scotia strongly preferred; will consider remote for the right candidate

REPORTS TO: Creative Director

STATUS: Full-Time

ABOUT COVE

Cove started in a kitchen in Nova Scotia with a simple idea: gut health should be easy, not complicated. Founded in 2016 by brothers John and Ryan MacLellan, Cove makes Canada's first zero-sugar, prebiotic soda. Today Cove is on shelves at major retailers across Canada and the U.S., with a growing team that moves fast, sweats the details, and is building a brand people trust with their health.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Senior Graphic Designer brings Cove's brand to life across digital, retail, product, and campaign touchpoints. This is a broad, hands‑on role for a genuinely well‑rounded designer — someone whose range covers social creative, packaging artwork, 3D renders, and merch, and who can take a brief and run with it. Video and web skills are a real plus.

You’ll work within Cove's established brand guidelines to turn creative direction into finished assets quickly. Most of the work is execution, and you'll partner with the Creative Director on art direction when a project calls for outside partners such as photo studios, illustrators, and print vendors. AI tools should already be part of how you work: we expect you to use them to accelerate concepting, iteration, and production without sacrificing quality or brand consistency.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Brand Creative & Visual Execution

• Produce high-quality visual assets across digital, print, retail, trade, and social channels
• Execute brand guidelines consistently across typography, color, imagery, and layout
• Create 3D and product renders — can renders, shipper mockups, and key-visual backgrounds
• Design apparel and branded merchandise, including T-shirts, from concept through production-ready files
• Design trade show and event booths, activations, and sampling setups — including 3D renders to visualize the space before build
• Maintain and apply Cove's existing templates and design systems accurately
• Flag opportunities to improve or refresh templates and assets

Campaign & Marketing Support

• Design creative for paid social, email, website, e-commerce, retail promotions, and event materials
• Design landing pages and Shopify storefront updates, and build them directly where you have the skills
• Support video needs for social, paid media, and product launches — editing in-house where you can, or briefing and managing outside editors
• Design polished decks and presentations for sales, retail buyers, and investors — taking rough content and making it board-ready
• Produce launch assets for new products, seasonal campaigns, and promotions
• Support both acquisition and retention marketing content needs
• Turn around asset variations and resizes efficiently across channels

Packaging & Product Support

• Build and execute dielines, and prepare press‑ready artwork to supplier specifications
• Assist with packaging design updates and regulatory text placement
• Lay out bilingual (English/French) packaging panels for the Canadian market — managing copy expansion, panel space, and legibility; translation partners supply the language
• Build working familiarity with U.S. (FDA) and Canadian (CFIA / Health Canada) label requirements over time — you don't need to arrive with it, but you'll learn how artwork moves through review before print
• Prepare files for print production, review proofs, and coordinate revisions with printers and vendors

Retail & Sales Enablement

• Design sales and trade materials including one‑sheets, sell‑in sheets, and trade collateral
• Design in‑store merchandising: shippers, PDQs, floor stands, case cards, and other POS assets
• Help ensure brand expression translates effectively from DTC channels to retail environments

AI-Enabled Design & Production

• Use AI design tools (e.g., Adobe Firefly, generative fill/expand, Midjourney, AI upscaling, AI‑assisted retouching, AI render and video tools) as part of your everyday workflow to speed up concepting and production
• Apply AI tools thoughtfully, balancing speed with brand accuracy, quality, and attention to detail
• Own Cove's AI‑powered presentation system — maintain the base deck template as the on‑brand source of truth, and keep it current as the brand evolves
• Train and support the sales team on building their own on‑brand decks with AI, so routine presentations do not require a designer on every slide
• Stay current on new AI design tools and workflows, and suggest efficiencies for the design process

Art Direction & Collaboration

• Partner with the Creative Director on art direction — briefing outside partners including photo studios, illustrators, and freelance designers, reviewing their work, and holding the brand standard
• Work closely with copywriters, marketers, and social/media teams to bring campaigns to life
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines in a fast‑moving environment
• Incorporate feedback quickly and constructively

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience

• 5–8 years of graphic design experience, ideally with consumer packaged goods, beverage, wellness, lifestyle, or other fast‑paced consumer brands
• Strong portfolio demonstrating range — brand design, packaging, digital campaigns, and marketing creative
• Required: hands‑on, production‑level experience using AI design tools in a real workflow — not casual experimentation
• Hands‑on packaging experience taking artwork from concept to press‑ready files, including dieline construction and working to a printer's or co‑packer's spec sheet
• Experience briefing and art‑directing photographers, illustrators, or outside creative partners
• Solid fundamentals in layout, typography, color, composition, and production
• Able to work independently and contribute quickly, with minimal onboarding
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple deadlines with attention to detail
• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Fine Arts, or a related field preferred — a strong portfolio may substitute

Technical Skills — Required

• Adobe Illustrator (expert): vector artwork and logo work, dielines and packaging mechanicals, type setting and outlining, Pantone and spot‑color setup, and clean, well‑organized layered files built to print spec
• Adobe Photoshop (advanced): compositing, masking, retouching, color correction, generative fill and expand, and preparing high‑resolution imagery for both print and screen
• Adobe InDesign (working knowledge): multi‑page layouts for decks, one‑sheets, and trade materials using master pages and paragraph/character styles
• Prepress fundamentals: bleed, trim and safety, CMYK vs. spot, overprint, image resolution, PDF/X export, and packaging files for output
• 3D and product rendering: Blender, Cinema 4D, KeyShot, or AI‑assisted render workflows — able to produce can renders, shipper mockups, and key‑visual backgrounds with credible lighting and materials

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Video editing: Premiere, After Effects, CapCut, or equivalent — cutting social and paid video, adding captions and simple motion, and exporting to platform specs
• Web: Shopify theme customization, a page builder (Shogun, Replo, or similar), or Webflow — able to build and publish a landing page, not just design one
• Figma, including component libraries and developer handoff
• Motion graphics and animation beyond basic editing
• Studio‑quality photo editing and retouching
• Basic HTML and CSS
• Experience with beverage, food, supplement, or CPG brands
• Based in or near Halifax, Nova Scotia

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Genuinely well‑rounded — comfortable moving between renders, video, packaging, and retail work in the same week
• Fast, resourceful, and self‑directed, with minimal ramp‑up
• Fluent with AI design tools and confident integrating them into daily production
• Strong creative judgment and attention to detail
• Able to balance speed with brand consistency and quality
• Comfortable operating in a fast‑growing, entrepreneurial environment
• Collaborative mindset with a low‑ego, solutions‑oriented approach

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• You're producing high‑quality, on‑brand work within your first few weeks with minimal training
• Cove's brand presence feels consistent and polished across every channel — digital, retail, packaging, and merch
• AI tools are used effectively to increase speed and output without compromising quality
• Marketing and sales teams receive fast, reliable creative support
• Product launches are supported end to end — render, shipper, packaging, and launch video
• Outside partners are briefed clearly and deliver on‑brand work with minimal rework
• The sales team can build their own on‑brand decks without design touching every slide

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER STATEMENT

Cove Drinks Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.