Senior Packaging Production Designer

C2 Staffing; Appleton (WI); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Professional development

Job summary

C2 Staffing’s client is seeking a Senior Packaging Production Designer to own packaging production accuracy, file integrity, and print readiness in a high-volume, multi-brand setting. The role emphasizes execution, file management, and liaison with vendors and cross-functional teams.

The ideal candidate will have 7+ years in packaging production design, strong knowledge of print processes, and proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of production design experience with significant packaging expertise.
• Thorough understanding of full-cycle commercial print processes and production workflows.

Responsibilities

• Extend approved packaging designs across multiple package sizes, formats, substrates, and structures.
• Prepare, manage, and maintain accurate print-ready production files for manufacturing.

Skills

Packaging production

Vendor communication

Project management

Attention to detail

Independent work

Communication skills

Bilingual packaging

Tools

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Monday.com

Job description

Job Description

C2’s client, a maker of iconic art and education brands, seeks a Senior Packaging Production Designer to own packaging production accuracy, file integrity, and print readiness across a high-volume, multi-brand environment.

This organization’s mission is to engage, inspire, and empower teachers, students, and artists to be at their best. That mission lives in every product they make, and it lives in the packaging that carries those products to school and retail markets nationwide. Their design team translates brand systems into production-ready artwork across an enormous range of SKUs, formats, substrates, and structures, working closely with domestic and overseas manufacturing partners to get it right every time.

This is an execution role, not a creative one. The Senior Production Designer operates with significant autonomy and owns the production file from adaptation through proofing and final release. The person who thrives here combines deep commercial print knowledge with disciplined file management, exercises sound production judgment without waiting to be told, identifies risk early, communicates clearly with vendors and cross-functional partners, and escalates only what genuinely requires escalation. Calm and methodical in a high-volume environment is the baseline. Precise is the standard.

Start Date: TBD

Duration: Direct Hire

Location: Hybrid, Appleton, WI

Compensation: TBD, commensurate with experience

Benefits: Health, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, paid time off, and professional development opportunities

Technology: Client provides hardware and software; Adobe Creative Cloud and Monday.com in use

Job Description

Responsibilities:

Packaging Production & Execution

• Extend approved packaging designs across multiple package sizes, formats, substrates, and structures
• Apply established brand architecture consistently across SKUs while preserving approved creative intent, escalating situations that require new design direction
• Support company-owned, retailer-specific, customer-specific, private-label, seasonal, and promotional packaging programs
• Prepare, manage, and maintain accurate print-ready production files for manufacturing, including live and outlined release files when required
• Manage controlled versioning and SKU proliferation with consistent naming conventions, organized folder structure, and disciplined file management

Proofing, Accuracy & Risk Management

• Review production artwork, vendor proofs, prepress files, prototypes, first-run samples, and production samples for accuracy, completeness, and alignment with approved artwork
• Confirm that vendor corrections and requested revisions are completed accurately before final release
• Identify and communicate potential downstream impacts of packaging changes, including production, inventory, versioning, and compliance considerations
• Approve items within established structured review processes and escalates unresolved production, regulatory, brand, or quality concerns to the appropriate internal owner
• Apply checklist-based processes and documented approvals to minimize production errors and prevent repeat issues

Print Production & Technical Preflight

• Support packaging produced through offset, flexographic, gravure, digital, and screen-printing processes
• Preflight production files for image resolution, color space, spot colors, bleeds, trim and safe areas, fonts, embedded and linked assets, transparency, overprints, trapping, separations, and other technical requirements
• Verify barcode size, placement, quiet zones, contrast, and scannability against approved specifications
• Review dielines and structural packaging files for correct use, artwork placement, production tolerances, and technical accuracy
• Partner with vendors and internal teams to resolve technical file issues before artwork reaches manufacturing

Retail, Regulatory & Sustainability Requirements

• Apply approved retail, regulatory, safety, and compliance requirements to packaging artwork, including country of origin, required disclosures, markings, warnings, claims, product descriptors, and age or safety statements
• Implement approved translations and manage bilingual and multilingual packaging versions while maintaining hierarchy, legibility, required warnings, and accurate version control
• Verify approved sustainability, recycling, and certification markings against provided standards, usage guidelines, and authorization requirements
• Support retailer-specific and customer-specific labeling, barcode, and packaging requirements
• Collaborate with Legal, Quality Assurance, Product Safety, Marketing, Sourcing, and Manufacturing teams as needed, escalating requirements that need interpretation or formal approval

Vendor & Cross-Functional Communication

• Communicate clearly and concisely with domestic and overseas vendors and suppliers, including non-English-speaking partners
• Provide unambiguous production instructions, annotated PDFs, visual markups, and correction summaries
• Move work efficiently through review and approval in close partnership with design, marketing, sourcing, quality, operations, and manufacturing teams
• Document decisions, clarify open questions in production discussions, and follow through on outstanding action items

Workflow, File Management & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate project status, production documentation, approvals, and communications within the company’s project management and artwork review systems
• Organize working files and approved final artwork within shared file systems and digital asset management platforms
• Contribute to and maintain production standards, templates, checklists, file specifications, and documented best practices
• Identify opportunities to improve production efficiency, accuracy, consistency, and communication across high-volume workflows
• Support onboarding and coordination of designers, freelancers, and external production resources as needed

Senior Production Leadership

• Serve as the production subject-matter expert and a dependable resource for packaging, print, file preparation, and proofing questions
• Provide practical production guidance to designers and cross-functional partners while upholding established brand and technical standards
• Recognize recurring risks, recommend solutions, and reinforce consistent production practices across the team

Requirements:

• 7+ years of production design experience with significant packaging expertise
• Demonstrated success extending designs across multiple SKUs and packaging structures
• Thorough understanding of full-cycle commercial print processes and production workflows, including offset, flexographic, gravure, digital, and screen printing
• Proven experience reviewing and approving production files and first-run samples
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Acrobat Pro
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign
• Experience working with global or overseas manufacturing partners and providing clear, actionable production instructions
• Familiarity with project management and artwork review platforms; Monday.com experience preferred
• Exceptional attention to detail with a consistent ability to identify inconsistencies before release
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing deadlines, and remain effective in a high-volume environment
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills
• Candidates located within approximately 2.5 hours of Appleton, WI are strongly preferred; exceptional remote candidates with demonstrated packaging production expertise will be considered
• Occasional travel up to 15%, including potential international travel; valid passport or ability to obtain one required

Nice to Have:

• Experience with bilingual or multilingual packaging production and translation management
• Background in retail compliance, sustainability certification markings, or regulatory packaging requirements

Not your type of gig, but know someone who would be interested? Refer a qualified candidate and if they get the job, you get a signing bonus! Make sure they mention your name as their referral source so you get your well-deserved credit.

All candidates must be located and authorized to work in the United States. C2 does not sponsor work visas. No C2C.