Design and Production Manager (Job Level 8)

 

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Duties/Pligte

• Design and production management for the in-house design studio providing concept development, design, creative execution and production across media:

• Dispatching all briefs within the studio based on personnel's strengths and skills to ensure that output is completed timeously;
• Managing design, copy and production flow;
• Developing and optimising briefing templates for internal clients to use;
• Guiding creative outputs from initial stages through to final delivery;
• Monitoring production processes and providing input for improvement where required;
• Identifying peaks and troughs in the workflow to determine adequate resources for projects and identifying opportunities to increase efficiency;
• Managing multiple projects simultaneously;
• Identifying lead times for jobs upfront, communicating them and renegotiating deadlines if required;
• Ensuring that deadlines and briefs are met within the budget provided;
• Running creative brainstorms on large projects where required;
• Focusing on product development for a range of services;
• Holding regular production and status meetings with the team, suppliers, and clients to ensure efficient delivery;
• Ensuring that client briefs are met accurately and that there is sign-off from relevant parties;
• Interpreting client briefs for multiple types of media design;
• Quality control and checking the design and production outputs;
• Quality assurance of the production processes;
• Liaising with external printers to ensure that the highest quality work is delivered within the deadline;
• Managing all aspects of the logistics of production;
• Ensuring that all production queries are handled efficiently and timeously;
• Liaising with internal relationship coordinators and other internal stakeholders within the marketing team;
• Ensuring that website updates are performed timeously and routinely.

2. Process and traffic management:

• Managing the studio processes to streamline the workflow:
• Delivering efficient processes and optimised scheduling;
• Daily management of Jira workflow scheduling and managing the daily schedules of the creatives;
• Jira updates, maintenance and enhancements;
• Managing resource requirements within the team.

3. Stellenbosch Business School corporate identity (CI) stewardship:

• Designing guidelines and rules for the use of the CI aligned to SU's CI guidelines;
• Ensuring cohesive brand language:
• Ensuring the CI alignment to the brand guidelines of all requests;
• Managing the image and video system for the Business School, including templates;
• Establishing and maintaining a library of resources.

4. Team leadership and resourcing:

• Initiating and implementing a resource strategy for the studio in support of the Business School's output requirements;
• Establishing a supplier strategy to meet the clients' brief / requirements;
• Managing and motivating a team of creatives and improving overall performance;
• Integrating the studio as part of the broader marketing team;
• Providing strategic and inspirational leadership to reportees, and encouraging creativity, innovation, and positive teamwork;
• Responsible for performance management and professional development of the team;
• Evaluating and improving the team workflow through evolving best practice processes;
• Ensuring the optimal allocation of resources - managing both internal resources and external contractors;
• Creating and managing a network of external resources (freelancers such as designers, photographers, etc.);
• Upskilling / resource according to creative and channel requirements, including video;
• Managing the performance reviews of suppliers and outsourced resources;
• Monitoring the budget and creating monthly reports on the finance status to provide input into resource planning;
• Negotiating and contracting with external vendors and submitting requests to the Head of Marketing and the financial administrator to process;
• Preparing purchase orders, journals and organising payments for suppliers / vendors.

5. Technical application and management:

• Researching new digital design trends and software or design tools;
• Keeping abreast of technical updates for effective decision-making;
• Recommending materials/channels to suit creative application.

Job Requirements/Pos Vereistes

The manager of the internal design studio should ideally have a graphic design background and the ability to assist with design where necessary, although their core function will be studio management and not design.

• A relevant three-year national diploma in graphic design or a related field;
• At least five years' experience in managing the design and production of an inhouse studio (including budgets and reporting), interpreting creative briefs, and producing the required material on deadline across channels;
• At least three years' experience of managing employees, scheduling workflow, and managing external resources;
• A portfolio of conceptually strong graphic design work, including examples of websites that have been worked on;
• A strong understanding of design principles and layout;
• The ability to accurately interpret and execute a brief;
• In-depth knowledge of design and production across channels;
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, etc.);
• Efficient in the Adobe Creative Suite;
• Working knowledge of HTML/CSS;
• Good technical knowledge of Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign;
• Strong knowledge of a relevant scheduling tool such as Jira;
• Good interpersonal relationship skills with the ability to engage, collaborate and build strong relationships with the functional team;
• Effective communication skills - the ability to communicate clear instructions to a team of creatives;
• High attention to detail with the ability to continuously deliver outputs with minimal errors that comply with the highest of quality standards;
• Proven ability to take initiative, problem-solve, prioritise and to make an independent judgement in performing tasks;
• The ability to function calmly in stressful situations and within deadlines;
• The ability to function in a multilingual environment;
• Willingness to work after hours if necessary to ensure that deadlines are met;
• A client-centric attitude and service orientated outlook.

Recommendation/Aanbeveling

• Understanding of and exposure to UI and UX design processes;
• A relevant degree in graphic design or a related field;
• Certificate / additional training in project management;
• Knowledge of motion graphics - 2D and 3D animation;
• Experience of working within the higher education sector.

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