Director, Corrugate Development

Outform; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Outform is seeking a Director of Corrugate Development to lead a growing team responsible for structural design, production setup and preflight for corrugate and promotional displays. You will shape the capability, delivery performance and cost strategy across direct promotional work and attached programs.

The role focuses on leadership, technical credibility with print production, workload planning and strong partnership with sales and procurement.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in corrugate, POP or promotional display environments with hands-on design/production experience.
• Proven ability to lead a six+ person team including senior technical specialists.
• Demonstrated capacity planning and forecasting in project-based settings.
• Experience collaborating with manufacturing, sales and procurement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the corrugate and promotional display group across design, production setup and preflight.
• Define roles, development plans and bench strength; reduce single-point dependencies.
• Set standards for collaboration with commercial, procurement and plant operations.
• Manage capacity, workload, budget and staffing for peak demand and new programs.
• Own on-time, on-spec, on-cost delivery and design-for-manufacture standards.

Skills

Team leadership

Capacity planning

Commercial partnership

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in packaging/engineering or related field

Job description

JOB SUMMARY

Outform’s corrugate and promotional display business generates a high volume of direct revenue at a strong margin and supports a materially larger volume of attached work inside permanent fixture programs, including inserts, shippers, pallet displays and hybrid chassis builds across Beauty, Consumer Electronics and Food & Beverage.

The Director, Corrugate Development owns the people, the capability and the delivery performance of the corrugate and promotional display group, and is accountable for building it into a properly resourced, commercially responsive team that can support both direct promotional business and attached work on permanent fixture programs.

This is an operational leadership role rather than a design or innovation role. Candidates will be assessed in this order: ability to lead and develop a team; technical credibility with structural design and production; delivery discipline and workload planning; commercial partnership. The group is capable and established. The expectation is that it is made measurably better in deliberate steps, not rebuilt from scratch.

DIRECT REPORTS

The following positions report directly to the Director, Corrugate Development:

• Structural Design — concept-through-production structural engineering for corrugate and promotional display programs.
• Production Setup and Preflight — file preparation, die layout and press-ready release to the Chicago plant and external suppliers.

SCOPE & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Director is accountable for the full delivery capability of the corrugate and promotional display group: the size and shape of the team, the technical standards it works to, and the on-time, on-spec, on-cost performance of its portfolio. Scope covers direct promotional display revenue as well as attached corrugate work carried inside permanent fixture programs.

The role owns the capacity model for the group and leads the transition from contract-heavy delivery to a properly staffed internal team, retaining contract resource for genuine peak flex rather than baseline capacity. It also owns the design-for-manufacture relationship with Chicago plant operations and, in partnership with Supply Chain and Global Procurement, the evaluation of domestic and Asia-based sourcing options for corrugate substrates and components.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team leadership and capability

• Lead and develop the corrugate and promotional display group across structural design, production setup and preflight documentation.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities and development plans for every seat on the team.
• Build technical bench strength and reduce single-person dependencies on specialist knowledge.
• Set the standard for how the team collaborates with commercial, procurement, plant operations and the wider development organization.
• Hold regular one to one and development conversations, and give direct feedback early rather than storing it up.
• Recruit, onboard and retain. Retention and development of this group are stated priorities for the business.

Capacity and resourcing

• Own the capacity model for the group: forecast demand, size the team against it, and maintain visibility of workload versus available hours.
• Lead the transition from contract-heavy delivery to a properly staffed internal team, retaining contract resource for genuine peak flex rather than baseline capacity.
• Target a staffing level where today’s baseline workload consumes approximately 75% of team capacity, preserving headroom for new business and incoming permanent programs.
• Build and defend the annual resourcing and budget case for the group.

Delivery and technical standards

• Own on-time, on-spec, on-cost delivery for the group’s portfolio.
• Set design-for-manufacture standards in partnership with Chicago plant operations, covering tooling, die construction, substrate selection and print production.
• Drive cost engineering into design so that quoted margin is realized in production.
• Establish repeatable estimating and scoping practice so commercial quotes are grounded in real production capability.

Commercial partnership

• Act as the operational counterpart to the vertical sales leads, with Food & Beverage as the primary growth partner and Beauty, Consumer Electronics and DIY as attach-driven partners.
• Support sales leadership in expanding corrugate and POP display revenue through existing accounts and increased attachment to permanent fixture programs.
• Engage directly with clients on feasibility, structural approach and production trade-offs.
• Support new business pursuit with technical credibility, rapid concepting and realistic delivery commitments.

Sourcing and cost strategy

• Evaluate new materials, design approaches and manufacturing processes that improve cost competitiveness, sustainability and retail effectiveness, and implement those that prove out in production.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Global Procurement on domestic and Asia-based supplier qualification for corrugate substrates and components.
• Evaluate and, if validated, operationalize a hybrid sourcing model combining Asia-manufactured flat-pack components with domestic assembly, palletization and fulfilment.
• Maintain a clear view of where Outform is and is not cost-competitive and bring that view to commercial planning.

KEY INTERFACES (NON-REPORTING)

• Vertical sales leads — Food & Beverage as primary growth partner; Beauty, Consumer Electronics and DIY on attach-driven work.
• Chicago plant operations — tooling, die construction, print production and design-for-manufacture standards.
• Supply Chain and Global Procurement — domestic and Asia-based supplier qualification and cost strategy.
• Permanent fixture development teams — inserts, shippers, pallet displays and hybrid chassis builds attached to permanent programs.
• Estimating, project management and finance — quoting, margin realization and program budget performance.
• Clients — feasibility, structural approach and production trade-off discussions.

FIRST TWELVE MONTHS

Beyond the ongoing measures below, the first year of this role has the following expected outcomes:

• First 90 days: known and trusted by the team, with every person’s role, strengths and development needs understood. A clear picture of workload, capacity and where the pressure sits. Working relationships established with plant operations and the vertical sales leads.
• Six months: roles and expectations clear across the group. Delivery performance measured and visible. Contract resource used for peaks rather than baseline. Two or three concrete process improvements made and holding.
• Twelve months: group fully staffed and stable with strong retention. On-time delivery improved against the baseline set in the first quarter. Technical standards documented and in daily use.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Success in this role will be measured against metrics including but not limited to:

• On-time, on-spec and on-cost delivery rate across the group’s portfolio.
• Quoted versus realized margin on corrugate and promotional display programs.
• Capacity utilization held at or near the 75% baseline target, with headroom preserved for new business and incoming permanent programs.
• Reduction in contractor spend as a percentage of total delivery hours, with peak flex retained.
• Growth in direct promotional revenue and in attached corrugate content on permanent programs.
• Supplier qualification milestones achieved for domestic and Asia-based sourcing.
• Team retention, development plan completion and reduction in single-person dependencies.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 8+ years in corrugate, POP, retail display, or promotional display environments with deep hands-on grounding in structural design and print production.
• Working command of corrugated substrates, die construction and die-cutting, litho lamination, offset and digital print, flat-pack engineering and shipper construction.
• Demonstrated experience leading a team of six or more, including senior technical specialists with long tenure.
• A demonstrable record of developing people: coaching, feedback, progression and retention, ideally in a team that was inherited rather than built from scratch.
• Track record of capacity planning and resource forecasting in a project-based environment.
• Experience working alongside an internal manufacturing operation, with a practical understanding of what a given plant can and cannot run.
• Bachelor’s degree in packaging, structural design, engineering or a related field, or equivalent hands-on industry experience.

Strongly preferred

• Exposure to permanent fixture programs and the interface between permanent and promotional work.
• Experience with Asia-based sourcing or hybrid domestic/offshore production models.
• Experience converting a contractor-dependent function to an internally staffed one.
• Familiarity with retail vertical dynamics in Food & Beverage, Beauty or Consumer Electronics.

LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES & PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Steady, present leadership. Improves a capable team in deliberate steps, staffing and structuring it properly without reinventing what already works.
• Develops people as a first instinct. Coaching, feedback and progression are treated as core work, not overhead.
• Credible and comfortable in front of clients and commercial teams; able to explain production constraints without retreating into jargon or into agreement.
• Direct and decisive with experienced specialists, holding technical standards while developing the people who hold the knowledge.
• Commercially minded — treats margin realization and capacity utilization as part of the design conversation, not an afterthought.
• Collaborative across functions, working as a genuine operational partner to sales, procurement and plant operations.
• Pragmatic problem-solver who can move between concept feasibility and press-ready detail without losing either.

#LI-Onsite

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Working conditions are in a normal office environment. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, sit, and stand, using hands to handle, finger, or feel objects, tools, or controls. Occasionally, the employee must crouch or kneel. The employee must occasionally exert or lift up to 20 pounds. Successful performance requires good eyesight with or without corrective lenses. Requires long periods of time working at a computer and includes phone work. Travel up to 15% of the time is required and is an essential function of this position.

DISCLAIMER

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification and may be amended at any time at the sole discretion of the Employer. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.