Full-time | Permanent
UPAC Packaging Group is looking for a talented Packaging & Print Production Designer to join our team in Govan.
This isn't a conventional graphic design position.
We are a packaging business with extensive in-house production capabilities and are rapidly developing our work across bespoke packaging, presentation boxes, large-format print, signage, displays and other manufactured products.
We're looking for someone who combines strong creative design skills with a genuinely hands-on approach to production.
You won'tsimply design something and hand it over to somebody else to make.
You'll help design it, prepare it for production, print it, and work alongside our production team to turn it into the finished product.
What you'll be doing
You'll work across a varied range of packaging, print and display projects.
A typical week could involve:
- Creating graphics and artwork for packaging and bespoke boxes
- Working with existing cutter guides and structural designs
- Producing customer visuals and mock-ups
- Preparing production-ready artwork for print
- Creating cut paths and files for digital cutting
- Operating our large-format printing equipment
- Setting up and managing print jobs through the RIP
- Checking print quality and adjusting output where required
- Working with different boards, papers, vinyls and other substrates
- Producing signage, displays, printed panels and bespoke products
- Working directly with our structural and production teams
- Taking a project from initial customer concept through to the physical finished product
What we're looking for
Adobe Illustrator – expert
This is probably the single most important software requirement.
You should be genuinely comfortable with complex vector artwork, cutter guides, cut paths, layers, clipping masks, spot colours, bleed and production artwork.
Adobe Photoshop – strong
You'll need to be comfortable with image manipulation, retouching, mock-ups and preparing raster artwork for high-quality and large-format print.
Print production experience
This is a hands-on production role, not a studio-only design position.
You should either have experience operating large-format/digital printing equipment or have worked sufficiently closely with print production that you're comfortable operating machinery and learning our equipment.
Experience with RIP software, colour management, print profiles and different print substrates would be a significant advantage.
Packaging / prepress knowledge
Ideally you'll understand areas such as:
- Dielines and cutter guides
- Creases and glue areas
- Bleed
- CMYK and Pantone
- Spot colours
- White ink layers
- Overprint
- Trapping
- Print tolerances
Creative ability
We're not simply looking for an artworker.
We're looking for much more than an artworker.
We need a flexible, creative thinker who can respond quickly to different briefs and deliver strong creative work across a wide variety of projects, products and substrates.
Our customers often come to us with an idea rather than a finished design. You'll need to be comfortable taking that initial concept, developing it creatively and then considering how it can be produced using the materials and manufacturing capabilities available to us.
That could mean moving from packaging artwork to signage, a point-of-sale display, a bespoke presentation box or something completely new.
The ability to think creatively, adapt quickly and turn ideas into physical products is central to this role.
Useful extras
Experience in any of the following would be particularly valuable:
- Large-format or flatbed printing
- Signage and display production
- RIP and digital print workflows
- CNC or digital cutting
- Packaging prototyping
- Adobe InDesign
- 3D packaging visualisation
- Blender, Adobe Substance or similar 3D software
You don't need to have everything on this list.
The person we're looking for
You may currently work for a packaging company, commercial printer, signage company, large-format graphics business, repro house or creative business with significant print-production capability.
Your current job title is less important to us than what you can actually do.
We're particularly interested in someone who enjoys making things.
If you like seeing a project progress from an idea on a screen to something you've printed, cut, and assembled and can physically hold in your hands, you'll probably enjoy this role.
We already have structural packaging knowledge, production equipment, and manufacturing capability in-house.
We're looking for someone with the creative ability, technical artwork knowledge, and hands-on production mentality to help us take those capabilities further.
Salary: £35,000–£38,000 depending on experience.
To apply, please send us your CV together with examples of your work.
We're particularly interested in seeing real projects that have gone into physical production packaging, signage, displays, large-format print, point-of-sale, or other manufactured products rather than simply digital design work.
Pay: £35,000.00-£38,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Application question(s):
- Do you have professional experience creating production-ready artwork for print?
- Do you have experience with large-format or digital printing?
Experience:
- Adobe Illustrator: 3 years (preferred)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (preferred)
Work Location: In person
