Printing Manager

Printing Manager

The Printing Manager serves as the key leader of Freshtech's printing operations, encompassing strategic planning, coordination, and supervision. The operations include pre-press submittals through finished print of flexible films. This role demands strong leadership capabilities to manage and motivate a team of production staff, while also liaising with cross functional departments, suppliers, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless workflow and execution.

The position plays a critical role in maintaining print quality, production efficiency, and cost control throughout the printing workflow.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Lead and direct press team to ensure successful execution of departmental objectives.
• Recruit, train, coach, and develop employees to ensure a highly skilled and engaged workforce.
• Establish performance expectations and hold team members accountable to safety, quality, productivity, and attendance standards.
• Conduct performance evaluations and provide ongoing coaching and development.
• Address employee relations issues in partnership with Human Resources.
• Lead departmental safety initiatives and ensure compliance with company safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Own departmental quality performance, including customer complaints, internal defects, waste reduction, and corrective action effectiveness.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee engagement.

Essential Duties

• Develop, implement, and maintain workflows and standard operating procedures designed with a focus on safety, quality, and efficiency. When possible, coordinate these workflows with all other Volm facilities using similar workflows for corporate consistency.
• Minimize waste by establishing and ensuring quality standards and improvement processes are being communicated, followed, measured, and evaluated.
• Serve as the primary liaison between graphic design, customer service, production, and external prepress and plate-making partners to communicate specifications, request quotes, and resolve technical issues. Receive and review incoming design files to ensure they meet requirements for proper trapping, separations, accuracy, and contain proper print requirements. Make and communicate required file changes as appropriate.
• Maintain accurate documentation, specifications, and approved artwork files in accordance with change management and quality control procedures.
• Track department metrics on a regular basis and provide regular reports to Leadership Team.
• Prepare and manage departmental budgets.
• Evaluate and recommend equipment upgrades or modifications to improve production capabilities.
• Monitor and communicate press characterization updates to ensure external prepress partners have accurate and current printing capability information.
• Manage relationships with pre-press, platemaking, ink, and equipment suppliers to ensure quality, service, and cost competitiveness.
• Establish and maintain print standards, color management systems, press characterization data, and process controls to ensure consistent print quality across all products and equipment.
• Accountable for achieving departmental key performance indicators (KPIs) related to safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and employee development.

Required

Skills and Abilities

• Strong attention to detail with the ability to identify and resolve technical file issues.
• Solid understanding of flexographic printing and prepress workflows.
• Effective communication skills with the ability to collaborate across departments and with external partners.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Problem-solving skills with a focus on quality, efficiency, and cost control.
• Ability to follow established procedures while identifying opportunities for process improvement.

Education and Experience

• Knowledge of prepress, flexographic printing processes, and print production principles normally acquired by the completion of a bachelor's degree in graphic communication, Printing Technology, Packaging, or a related field and/or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in flexographic printing, prepress, or print production.
• Proven experience in pre-press or print production within a flexographic or packaging environment.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) and prepress software such as Esko or Art Pro preferred.
• Strong knowledge of color management, file formats, and printing processes.
• Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) certification preferred or ability to obtain within six months, including FIRST Press Operator Level III.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand, walk, and move around for extended periods of time.
• Capability to lift and carry objects of various weights up to 50 pounds occasionally.
• Proficiency in using hands, fingers, and arms for tasks such as typing and writing.
• Sufficient visual acuity to read documents and…