Gift Designer

Please note: this is NOT a UI/UX Designer or Graphic Designer position. All applicants must provide sample work, portfolio, or website showcasing gift designing experience. Those with floral design experience may be qualified for this role as skillsets mirror this position.

Overview of Job Description:

This is a mid-level, creative/technical, hands-on position developing food, candy and wine gifts from concept to Production. The Gift Designer is responsible for developing and sourcing new products to meet company and customer specifications. They understand cost structures and pricing to develop gifts that are unique, value and brand represented. They will work collaboratively and independently on customer projects. This is a fast paced, multi-tasking, high volume environment.

The designer has creative experience related to gifting and the ability to communicate Design aesthetics to the sourcing team and vendors to develop new items. They possess a creative design background in a related industry (gifts, hardgoods, soft goods) and have a natural ability to keep up with current and in-high-demand design trends for Holidays and everyday products.

The primary responsibilities:

• Develop (hands-on) food, candy and liquor gifting across multiple product lines for all accounts including mass, specialty, wholesale/club and eCommerce accounts.
• Analyze costs and price point gifts to meet target margins.
• Source, select and develop containers and reusable components for use in gifts.
• Contribute to the development gifts in all stages of design and revise to meet company cost structures and customer specifications.
• Attend and assist with customer presentations, recap meeting and conference calls.
• Research and develop knowledge of current design trends as they apply to gift development.
• Initiate creative direction to the Graphics team for creative interpretation of gift and product design.
• Identify reusables and food products to use and source for unique and cost-effective gift development.
• Partner with Purchasing, Sourcing and Product Optimization team on gift development to ensure product integrity and product objectives meet timelines.

Administrative and Other Responsibilities:

• Provide management with project status reports/updates for presentations, recaps and sourcing requests.
• Use product tracking and task management to manage project timelines.
• Attend and contribute to Design, Sales and Sourcing team meetings.
• Analyze and determine use of products from Inventory for gifting.
• Provide assistance and direction to support staff in gift preparation.
• Update and maintain detailed account documents for all assigned customer accounts.
• Contribute to and assist with various tasks related to the design process as directed by management.
• Other tasks as requested or assigned by management.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• MS-Office with a high proficiency in Excel, Outlook and Power Point.
• Must have price pointing knowledge/skills.
• Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must demonstrate the ability to multi-task in a dynamic environment.
• Must have excellent organizational skills.
• Must be able to work overtime as needed (voluntary and mandatory)
• Must understand basic Product Development and Project Management timelines.

Education:

• AA, BA in a Design/Creative Arts discipline or equivalent experience.

Experience-Minimum of 3 years:

• Design experience in a creative design/development capacity including: gift products, hard goods or soft goods.
• Analyzing costs and price points.
• Sourcing products Internationally.