Remote Design Operations Lead - Print & Pre-Press

Ad Talent Africa; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote

37-hour week

Paid annual leave (6 weeks)

Paid sick leave

Paid parental leave

Overtime compensation

International team

Job summary

Ad Talent Africa is seeking a hands-on Design Operations Lead with a strong print and pre-press background to guide a remote team of four designers. You will roll up your sleeves to check artwork, resolve production issues and drive efficient workflows in a fast-moving international environment.

Ideal candidates have 4+ years in print production, pre-press or production artwork, with expert Illustrator skills and familiarity with InDesign and Photoshop.

Qualifications

• At least four years’ relevant experience in print production, pre-press, packaging artwork or production design.
• Strong hands-on experience preparing, checking and correcting production-ready artwork for professional print.
• Advanced Adobe Illustrator skills, with InDesign and Photoshop experience advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a remote team of four designers.
• Manage workloads, prioritise requests and ensure deadlines and SLAs are met.
• Review, correct and approve customer artwork for print production.
• Troubleshoot pre-press and artwork issues, ensuring files meet printing requirements.
• Maintain high-quality standards while driving fast turnaround times.
• Identify workflow bottlenecks and implement improvements, automation and AI-supported solutions.
• 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 busy periods and resolve production challenges.
• Drive continuous improvement to deliver 99.9% of requests within a two-hour SLA.

Skills

Print production

Pre-press

Packaging artwork

Production design

Tools

Adobe Illustrator

InDesign

Photoshop

Job description

Ad Talent Africa is seeking a hands-on Design Operations Lead with a strong print and pre-press background to guide a remote team of four designers. You will roll up your sleeves to check artwork, resolve production issues and drive efficient workflows in a fast-moving international environment.

Ideal candidates have 4+ years in print production, pre-press or production artwork, with expert Illustrator skills and familiarity with InDesign and Photoshop.