Remote Design Operations Lead - Print & Pre-Press

Ad Talent; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ad Talent is seeking a hands-on Design Operations Lead to guide a remote team of four designers, ensuring artwork is print-ready and production workflows stay on track. This role focuses on leading and coaching, solving pre-press challenges, and maintaining high quality under tight deadlines.

Ideal candidates will have 4+ years in print production or production design, strong CMYK knowledge, and proficiency with Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.

Qualifications

• At least four years of experience in print production, pre-press, packaging artwork or production design.
• Advanced Adobe Illustrator skills; InDesign and Photoshop experience is a plus.
• Excellent knowledge of CMYK, spot colours, vector graphics, print specs and production requirements.
• Experience coordinating designers, managing production workflows or leading a team.
• Ability to work accurately in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Interest in workflow optimization, automation and AI tools.
• Hands-on leadership style with ability to coach and motivate others.
• Ability to work independently and with a European team; CET-aligned working hours.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a remote team of four designers; manage workloads and deadlines.
• Review, correct and approve customer artwork for print production.
• Troubleshoot pre-press and artwork issues; ensure files meet printing requirements.
• Maintain high quality while delivering fast turnarounds; identify bottlenecks and implement improvements.
• Develop templates, systems and processes to improve consistency and productivity.
• Collaborate with internal teams to streamline workflows from artwork to production.
• Provide hands-on artwork support during peak periods and resolve production challenges.
• Drive continuous improvement to achieve 99.9% of requests within a two-hour SLA.

Skills

Team leadership

Workflow management

Automation interest

Problem-solving

Tools

Adobe Illustrator

InDesign

Photoshop

Job description

Ad Talent is seeking a hands-on Design Operations Lead to guide a remote team of four designers, ensuring artwork is print-ready and production workflows stay on track. This role focuses on leading and coaching, solving pre-press challenges, and maintaining high quality under tight deadlines.

Ideal candidates will have 4+ years in print production or production design, strong CMYK knowledge, and proficiency with Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.