design manager

About the Role

Day to day, you’ll manage the Own Brand Design Plan with a focus on packaging projects ensuring that they are delivered efficiently on brief, on budget to deadlines at the same time as maintaining stakeholder satisfaction.

Proactive and organised, you’ll have a good understanding and experience of the creative process, be able to think on your feet, work collaboratively as a part of a team and work independently with autonomy.

Making the most of your solid understanding of the creative process, you’ll interpret project needs and customer insight into design briefs which deliver effective creative results.

You’ll need strong communication, influencing and presentation skills to effectively convey information and build great stakeholder relationships internally and externally with our Design Agencies.

As a real go-getter with a keen eye for detail, you’ll stay motivated and organised at all times, ready to get stuck into your role and be the glue that helps to hold things together to maintain momentum from the start right through to production handover.

With a creative and collaborative mindset, you’re someone who absolutely knows how to keep on top of everything to ensure maximum success. You’ll have some knowledge and experience of working on brands in a similar design management role either for a retailer and/or for a brand design agency working on retail clients. To be absolutely ready to hit the ground running in this role you will also have experience of specifically working on packaging design projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Build successful relationships and networks internally and externally to attain brand consistency and stakeholder expectations.
• Proactively manage our Design Agency partner teams to understand briefs, plan projects, manage design approaches and have a point of view on project proposals.
• Work with the support of the Brand Creative Manager to deliver great service internally.
• Own the day-to day running of the Design Plan in line with the Activity Planner and associated tasks efficiently and effectively.
• Be the key point of contact on business as usual and seasonal design activity.
• Work independently and with autonomy and be responsible for leading projects day-to-day.
• Confidently face into challenges to find suitable solutions.
• Deliver accurate and timely information at weekly project and activity planning meetings - raising challenges before they become risks.
• Develop and craft design briefs, co-ordinate and liaise with Design Agencies, Artwork agencies and other 3rd party partners to ensure success project delivery.
• Manage the day-to-day financial planning on the projects that you lead.
• Be close to the detail ensuring that all brand guidelines are adhered to coherently and consistently.
• Be the eyes and ears of the pet world by keeping close to trends and the marketplace - highlighting new-ness in the brand world and packaging innovation through regular reports and team sessions.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Packaging design projects within the Own Brand Team
• General management tasks: co-ordinating meetings, producing status reports, planning projects with agencies, creating, and managing project plans, briefing design and artwork teams, admin related tasks for all projects that you lead.
• Financial management including scope of work, project proposals, cost estimates and monthly invoicing schedules ensuring all costs are approved by the Head of Brand and POs are issued in a timely manner.
• Confident, timely and concise communication with internal teams and external partners to keep everything and everybody on track.

About You

• Skills in communication, influencing, relationship building and presenting.
• The ability to be a team player, with experience and enthusiasm as well as being a confident, independent worker
• The ability to make informed decisions, always striving for better solutions
• An understanding of budget management and negotiation
• Experience of working within a retailer in a similar type role or a within a brand design agency working on on retail clients (e.g. client/account management)
• Experience of working on packaging design projects
• An understanding of the artwork process
• A creative and collaborative mindset