Creative Director / Head of Packaging & Creative
Job Description Job Description A bout Us We are a fast-growing consumer products company with over $100 million in annual sales across several major categories, including pet treats and accessories, disposable tabletop products, and household/laundry products. We develop and launch approximately 500 new SKUs per year for major retailers across the U.S. We are looking for an experienced Creative Director / Head of Packaging & Creative to lead and rebuild our internal creative department into a best-in-class packaging organization. This is not primarily an advertising, social media, or digital design position. We are looking for someone with deep experience in consumer product packaging and retail , ideally within CPG, food, pet, household products, beauty/personal care, private label, or similar high-volume consumer categories. The Role You will lead the creative direction for multiple consumer brands and hundreds of new products each year. You will be responsible for raising the overall level of our packaging, creating strong brand systems, managing and developing our design team, and building a creative process that allows us to move quickly without sacrificing quality. You should be equally comfortable developing a completely new brand from scratch and overseeing the rollout of that brand across 20 SKUs. We want someone who can look at a retail shelf and immediately understand what works, what doesn't, and how to make our product stand out. Key Responsibilities Lead all packaging design and creative direction across our Pet, Tabletop, Laundry and Household categories Develop new brands, packaging systems and product-line architectures Manage and mentor Art Directors, Senior Designers, Production Artists and outside creative resources Establish a consistent creative standard across the company Review and approve packaging before presentation to management, sales teams and retail buyers Work closely with Product Development, Sales, Sourcing and senior management Translate retailer and buyer feedback into strong commercial packaging solutions Create scalable packaging systems that can efficiently roll out across multiple SKUs, sizes, fragrances, flavors and retailers Oversee product photography, lifestyle imagery, 3D rendering and retail presentation graphics Improve the department's use of AI and other new creative technologies for concept development and visualization Help establish better workflows for briefs, revisions, approvals and final production artwork Maintain brand consistency while working within aggressive product-development timelines Ensure that creative concepts can be successfully translated into production-ready packaging What We're Looking For 10 years of professional design experience , with significant experience specifically in consumer packaging 3 years managing or leading a packaging/creative team Exceptional portfolio demonstrating real consumer products that have reached retail shelves Strong understanding of packaging hierarchy, branding, typography, color, photography and shelf impact Experience developing complete packaging systems across multiple SKUs Strong knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign Understanding of dielines, print production, prepress and packaging manufacturing Experience working in a fast-paced, high-SKU environment Ability to balance great design with commercial realities, retailer requirements, cost and speed-to-market Strong presentation and communication skills Comfortable presenting concepts and explaining the thinking behind them to senior management Highly organized and able to manage multiple brands and projects simultaneously Experience We Especially Value Experience with any of the following would be particularly valuable: CPG • Food • Pet Products • Household Products • Laundry • Beauty/Personal Care • Private Label • Mass Retail • Walmart • Target • Club • Grocery • Drug • Value Retail Experience with AI-assisted design, 3D packaging visualization, retail displays, PDQs and buyer presentations is also a plus. This Role Is NOT This is not primarily a social media, advertising, web, UX/UI or digital marketing Creative Director position. Our creative work ultimately has to sell physical products at retail. We are looking for someone who understands packaging, consumer behavior and the retail shelf. The Opportunity This is an opportunity to take ownership of a substantial existing consumer products business and build the creative organization for its next stage of growth. You will have significant influence over our brands, packaging, creative team, processes and overall visual direction. We move quickly, launch a large number of products and are looking for someone who enjoys seeing their creative work go from an idea to a physical product on a major retailer's shelf. To Apply Please submit your resume and portfolio of consumer packaging work . Applications without a packaging portfolio will not be considered. When applying, please include several examples of packaging programs where you personally led the creative direction and, when possible, show how the design system was extended across multiple SKUs. Location: Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY Job Type: Full-Time, In-Office Salary: $125,000–$200,000 depending on experience
