Trainee Print Operator

Presswift; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 23,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training on every machine

Career progression to Print Operator

Portal access to ordering system

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Presswift in Battersea is offering a full-time entry role in the print room. You will start on finishing and packing benches and gradually move onto the printers as you learn.

No prior print experience or qualifications are required; we train you on every machine, with a clear path toward a print operator role as you earn it. DBS/BPSS checks apply on joining.

Qualifications

• Willingness to learn a trade and take on new tasks.
• Reliability and punctuality are essential for courier cut-offs.
• Good attention to minor details before handover to customer.

Responsibilities

• Finish, crease, laminate, fold and booklet making on benches.
• Pack and label completed jobs for shipping and daily collections.
• Load stock, run proofs, and assist with printers as you learn.
• Answer customer queries by phone and email when needed.
• Keep the print room tidy and maintain machine care and ISO/FSC records.

Skills

Attention to detail

Reliability

Learn quickly

Clear communication

Team player

Basic computer skills

Tools

Adobe

Canva

Affinity

Job description

Presswift is an online printer with its own print room in Battersea. Orders arrive through the website all day, from business cards, flyers, booklets and stickers to posters, banners and rigid boards, and most of them are printed, finished, packed and on a courier within a day or two. We hold ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001 and FSC certification, so the standards are part of how the print room runs.

This is a starting role. You do not need print experience or a qualification: school and college leavers are welcome, and so is anyone changing trade. You need to want to learn, turn up on time and care that the job leaving the building is right. We train you on every machine in the room, and the plan is that you grow into a print operator role as you earn it.

What you will be doing

You start on the finishing and packing benches and move onto the printers as you learn.

• Finishing: guillotining, creasing, folding, laminating and booklet making, and loading and unloading the Zünd cutting table.
• Packing and shipping: checking each job against its job sheet, packing it so it arrives the way it left, labelling parcels and getting them ready for the daily collections.
• Printing: loading stock and running proofs, then, as you learn, setting up and running jobs on the digital press and the large format printers alongside an operator.
• Customers: answering the phone and email when the team needs you, from an order update to taking a message properly.
• Keeping the print room moving: stock and consumables, routine machine care, and a tidy, safe working space.
• Standards: following the procedures behind our ISO and FSC certification and keeping the records that go with them.

What we are looking for

• The wish to learn a trade properly, and the patience to get the basics right before moving on.
• Reliability. The print room runs on courier cut-offs, so being here on time matters every day.
• An eye for detail. You notice the trim that is a millimetre out before the customer does.
• A muck-in attitude. Your day-to-day activities change with the work that comes in, so you trim, pack and pick up the phone when that is what the day needs.
• Clear, friendly communication with the team and with customers.
• Basic confidence with computers: email, PDFs and learning our online ordering portal.
• The role is hands-on. Most days involve standing, lifting and moving boxes of paper and boards, with the right equipment and help. Tell us about any adjustments you would need.

Good to have

None of these is essential. Tell us about any that apply.

• A Saturday job, work placement or college course that involved print, design, a workshop or a warehouse.
• Any time with Adobe, Canva or Affinity, or an interest in design and artwork.
• A full UK driving licence, as the role can include local deliveries and collections.

What you will get

• Pay at the National Minimum Wage for your age: £10.85 an hour at 18 to 20 (about £22,650 a year on these hours) and £12.71 at 21 and over (about £26,550), moving with the rate each April and with your age.
• Training on every machine in the room, from the guillotine to the digital press and the Zünd cutting table, with an operator alongside you.
• A clear path: as you take on more of the work, you move towards a print operator role.
• Access to a modern and evolving customer and business ordering portal, so you see the whole operation from the order landing to the parcel leaving.
• A place where your work is seen, your ideas are used and there is room to grow as the business grows.

Before you apply

• This is a full-time role on the print room machinery, so you need to be 18 or over.
• You must already have the right to work in the UK. We are not able to sponsor visas.
• Successful candidates go through a DBS check and BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) clearance before starting.