Assistant Production Design Manager

Your Opportunity as the Assistant Production Design Manager

We are looking for an experienced Assistant Production Design Manager to join our in-house agency, Seed Creative, and help deliver outstanding creative work for our iconic brands. This highly organized and proactive individual will provide production leadership for a diverse range of advertising projects, while dedicating the majority of their time to hands-on work. They will also manage and mentor a Production Designer.

The Production Manager will lead all production design details and processes for Seed Creative's work across our portfolio of brands. They will ensure high-quality outputs and a smooth, efficient production process. Our brands include frozen handheld foods, spreads, coffee, sweet baked snacks, and pet food/snacks. Seed Creative's work directly influences consumers' and B2B customers' perceptions of these brands.

Creative executions span both digital and print, with a strong emphasis on digital. These may include (but are not limited to) digital ads, eCommerce content, social media content, websites, environmental signage, in-store signage & displays, print ads and collateral, and style guides. A base knowledge of motion design is preferred as several of these executions often incorporate motion.

Location: Orrville, OH- Corporate Offices

Work Arrangements: Hybrid, 30% in office expectations (onsite approximately 6 days per month, mostly during core weeks determined by the Company)

In this role you will:

• Foster collaboration and build strong relationships with project managers, designers, copywriters, external partners and vendor

• Manage and mentor a Production Designer, and train where needed

• Review complex projects at input stage to ensure we have everything we need, and review at the final art stage for accuracy and quality

• Establish standards and create guideline documents for successful production-ready artwork

• Troubleshootproblems as they ariseand provide solutions and guidance to team members

• Conduct training for team members in production areas as needed to address knowledge gaps, ensuring the entire team is equipped to flow to the work

• Manage the organization and upkeep offile libraries, including (but not limited to) fonts, photos, graphics, logos, style guides, templates, etc. This will be in collaboration with the Asset Manager.

• Lead the ongoing maintenance of retailer media templates, both optimizing and adapting templates to specification changes

• Create templates as needed to address gaps in files and eliminate redundant work

• Apply existing style guidesto various tactics, adapting the work for various retailers and versioning

• Work with dielinesand understand how they translate to 3D structures and displays

• Preparefinal files based on supplied specifications and package them for release to media partners

• Keep abreast of the latest production techniques and software advancements

• Assess ongoing advancements in artificial intelligence and explore their potential to enhance efficiencies

• Leverage expertise to spearhead the implementation of innovative methods that enhance efficiency and elevate the creative product-continuously evaluating, testing, and learning

• Provideimage retouching, manipulation and enhancement as needed

The Right Place for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.

What we are looking for:

Minimum Requirements:

• BA/BS in Graphic Design or similar degree

• 8 years of production experience

• 3 years of production management experience

• Highly proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign on a Mac platform

• Strong portfolio of production work

• Robust understanding of digital printing, offset printing, and preparing color profiles for the web

• Strong sense of urgency, and ability to maintain creative excellence while meeting fast-paced deadlines

• Self-starter with proven ability to balance multiple projects at once

• Outstanding attention to detail

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Exceptional project management skills

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:

• Animation skills, proficiency in After Effects

• Prior agency experience

• Familiaritywith consumer-packaged goods, especially food, beverage and pet brands

• Professional expertisein retouching

• Proficiency with Adobe's advancements in artificial intelligence

Learn more about working at Smucker:

• Helping our Employees Thrive

• Delivering on Our Purpose

• Our Continued Commitment to Ensuring a Workplace for All

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