Senior Packaging Designer

Bakery Agency; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401k with 3% employer matching

Open PTO policy

2 weeks Work From Anywhere (WFA)

13 weeks paid maternity/paternity

Pet-friendly office

Yearly creative stipend

Snacks, meals and drinks

No time tracking

Job summary

Bakery Agency in Austin, TX is seeking a Senior Packaging Designer who can lead packaging concepts from strategy to production, blending brand storytelling with structural design. You will work closely with strategists and client services, mentoring junior designers and shaping iconic packaging for consumer brands.

The role requires a strong portfolio in FMCG/CPG, hands-on print production knowledge, and comfort collaborating across teams.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of packaging design experience.
• Strong portfolio with FMCG/CPG brands.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign).
• Knowledge of 3D visualization tools for pre-production.
• Experience managing multiple creative projects.

Responsibilities

• Shape packaging that carries shelf presence and brand storytelling.
• Develop holistic concepts from ideation to final production.
• Collaborate with strategists, clients, and production partners.
• Mentor junior designers and guide creative direction.
• Engage with printers, structural engineers, and prototypers to ensure feasibility.

Skills

Packaging design

Brand storytelling

Client collaboration

Project management

Vendor management

Presentation to clients

Cross-functional teamwork

Creative direction

Tools

Illustrator

Photoshop

InDesign

ArtiosCAD

Cinema 4D

Job description

Bakery is looking for a Senior Designer to Make Things people Want. We’ve worked with ambitious brands like Nike, Diageo, Shiner Beer, and Grillo’s Pickles - building brand identities, campaigns, and packaging that make people pay attention.

We’re seeking a Senior Packaging Designer who shares a passion for FMCG, CPG, and brand design at its best - someone equally fluent in the creative and the technical sides of the craft. You’ll need a sharp eye for brand storytelling and structural design in equal measure: comfortable moving between flat layout work in Illustrator and Photoshop and thinking in three dimensions about how a shape, fold, or container actually performs on shelf. You should know your way around print production - CMYK, Pantone, foil, finishes - well enough to design with the realities of manufacturing in mind, not just the polish of a comp.

At Bakery, our Senior Designers work closely with Strategists and the Client Services team while supporting our Creative and Design Directors. You’ll have the chance to inspire our design team, mentoring junior designers and helping them sharpen their craft.

Your creative instinct will show up in how you turn strategy into ideas that stand out on shelf and hold up across every touchpoint a brand lives in.

* Must be employable in the USA and work on-site in Austin, TX *

About Us

Bakery is an independent creative and culture agency designed to ignite people’s obsession in great brands. From our headquarters in Austin, TX, we work with Nike, Grillo’s Pickles and Cheetos to build brand worlds, campaigns, packaging, and the kind of craft that makes people stop. Bakery is a 4x AdAge Small Agency of the Year.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work on iconic consumer brands, shaping packaging that carries real shelf presence and cultural relevance
• Create holistic concepts and design solutions that build on a brand’s identity and give it a genuine point of difference across every touchpoint
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of how to connect strategy to craft
• Quickly edit and refine concepts to land on the strongest idea, not just the safest one
• Manage relationships with vendors and production partners - printers, structural engineers, prototypers - to make sure the work holds up from final file to finished package
• Collaborate with internal teams and client expertise to arrive at better creative solutions than either side would reach alone
• Operate with the integrity, reliability, and openness that earns trust from clients and colleagues alike
• Act as a creative partner to clients, building long-term trust rather than one-off approval
• Push back on and interpret feedback where needed to protect the integrity of the brand
• Bring design expertise and point of view to client conversations, including productive provocation when the work calls for it
• Look for opportunities to deepen and extend client relationships over time
• Deliver strong pitches and client presentations that move the work forward
• Communicate clearly and confidently across all levels, adapting style to audience while staying consistent in message
• Encourage collaborative, cross-functional ways of working across the studio

• At least 6 years of packaging design experience
• Skilled at creating holistic packaging and brand concepts, from idea through final production
• A portfolio with real examples of work on iconic FMCG or CPG brands
• Strong grasp of structural packaging design - how shape, fold, and container form work in three dimensions, and how a design needs to hold up physically as well as visually on shelf
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) for flat design, plus working knowledge of 3D visualization tools like ArtiosCAD or Cinema 4D to see a design as a real object before it’s produced
• Working knowledge of print production - CMYK, Pantone matching, foil stamping, and special finishes - and how different substrates (paper, plastic, metal) affect how a design actually prints and reads
• An eye for consumer psychology - what makes a shopper stop and pick something up in the first three seconds on shelf
• Awareness of regulatory and labeling requirements (ingredients, barcodes, safety warnings, recycling symbols) and how to design around them without compromising the work
• Experience managing multiple creative projects at once, with the judgment to edit toward the strongest idea
• A genuine drive to produce world-class work - in concept and in craft
• A natural instinct for storytelling through design
• The ability to move fluidly between creative thinking and technical execution
• Comfortable using AI tools to speed up your process, but your portfolio should show what you can make with your own mind and hands - not a book of AI comps
• Real enthusiasm for design, identity, and brand experience as a discipline, not just a job

• Competitive insurance coverage, inclusive of medical, dental, and vision
• 401k Retirement with 3% employer matching
• Open PTO Policy
• 2 weeks Work From Anywhere (WFA)
• 13 weeks paid Maternity and Paternity leave
• Pet-Friendly Office
• Yearly Creative Stipend
• Snacks, Meals and Drinks
• No Time Tracking!