Head of In-House Print Production

cookunity; New York (NY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

CookUnity is seeking a hands-on Print Manager to build and lead our new in-house print materials function at our Brooklyn facility. You will own commissioning, ramp-up, and daily performance of our Domino, Nilpeter, and Precision equipment while building the team, standards, and operating discipline required to scale.

This is not a desk-only role; you will troubleshoot with operators, develop people, create repeatable processes, and drive quality and throughput.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in commercial printing or high-volume packaging.
• 2+ years leading print teams and improving performance.
• Hands-on experience with digital inkjet, flexographic, offset, or hybrid print equipment.
• Knowledge of prepress workflows, PDFs, RIPs, and variable data workflows.
• Understanding of print defects and quality control processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the installation, commissioning, acceptance testing, start-up, and production ramp of CookUnity's print and finishing line.
• Own daily print operations end-to-end: production planning, job setup, prepress, material staging, make-ready, printing, folding, gluing, and handoff to downstream ops.
• Build the function from the ground up: define team structure, hiring, onboarding, and shift coverage.
• Coach operators on setup and changeovers; diagnose issues; lead structured troubleshooting.
• Establish controls for artwork versions, barcodes/QR codes, density, and finished-sleeve quality.
• Create and own KPIs: safety, uptime, throughput, yield, waste, and changeover time.
• Develop preventive maintenance plans and coordinate service and spare parts with vendors.
• Qualify materials with Packaging and suppliers to balance cost and print quality.
• Collaborate with Brand/Menu/Packaging to translate content into production-ready print jobs.
• Ensure safe operation of the line and compliance with CookUnity standards.

Skills

Print leadership

Team management

Digital inkjet

Prepress workflows

Print quality control

Tools

RIP workflows

Job description

CookUnity is seeking a hands-on Print Manager to build and lead our new in-house print materials function at our Brooklyn facility. You will own commissioning, ramp-up, and daily performance of our Domino, Nilpeter, and Precision equipment while building the team, standards, and operating discipline required to scale.

This is not a desk-only role; you will troubleshoot with operators, develop people, create repeatable processes, and drive quality and throughput.