Production Designer

Get ready to join an award-winning creative agency that treats quality of work and quality of work life as essential drivers of success.

M^cMillan’s philosophy for the content production team is to collaborate on—and bring to life through flawless execution—quality user-centric experiences.

Production designers often find themselves alternating between creative and technical design. Part of the role involves developing assets based on approved brand concepts, while the other entails securing specifications and ensuring that deliverables align perfectly with them.

At M^cM, you’ll live that familiar scenario, but you’ll also do more. You’ll be familiar with all the brands we work with, but you’ll work closely with the design team to become an expert in the nuances of the visual brand for a set of clients. Once a look and feel is established for a campaign, for example, you’ll apply it across a broad array of elements from digital to print to physical space expressions, as required. You’ll be the go-to person who ensures that all creative that’s developed for any of those clients is on point before it goes to the client.

In your role, you’ll report to M^cM’s Creative Director, while also collaborating daily with a tight team of strategists, client experience managers, art directors, designers, writers, and digital developers.

Your responsibilities

Expect to be busy. Your days at M^cMillan will include:

Preparing final press-ready files, based on supplied specifications for printed collateral, trade show materials, and dimensional assets
Making various formats of supplied artwork production-ready and resolving any artwork issues that arise during production
Prepare digital banner ads for multiple platforms
Packaging and pre-flighting files for release to printers or media partners, and conducting press checks
Creating PDFs for print and client review
Cataloguing and referencing creative files for future projects
Troubleshooting problems as they arise with internal creative teams and external resources
Creating HTML5 banners in line with publisher specifications
Configuring landing pages and interactive experiences on platforms like Ceros, PageCloud and Shopify
Developing PowerPoint templates and producing compelling sales presentations
Updating and refreshing branded content, such as PDFs, Word docs, and PPTs

Throughout, you’ll need to show strong organizational skills, a methodical working style, and strong self-motivation (when you don’t have all the information you need for a project, for example, you’ll be like a dog chasing a ball in your pursuit of answers).

You’ll also be required to multitask and work to tight deadlines—without compromising attention to detail and accuracy—while collaborating closely with art directors, designers, copywriters, developers, and others.

Finally, you’ll need to be skilled in the art of diplomacy when it comes to negotiating changes with content authors and clients.

Your success

It starts, of course, by carrying out your responsibilities in a way that adds value. You take your role seriously (yourself less so), and you are comfortable with change. In fact, you encourage and champion it.

But there’s something else. Win or lose, we do it as a team. At the same time, everyone on Team M^cM is expected to strive towards being recognized as sought-after, trusted advisors by clients and colleagues alike. That recognition is earned by displaying:

Curiosity – You show a genuine interest in coworkers and ask tough questions (when appropriate) to inform, explore, and encourage fresh perspectives and solutions. At the same time, you seek to continuously widen and improve your own knowledge and skills, so that you can generate ideas that are both informed and unexpected.
Expertise – You combine expert proficiency in your role with industry-specific awareness. You exude confidence yet know when receiving constructive feedback is important. In fact, a critical part of the M^cMillan culture embraces both giving and receiving feedback in the moment, to make all of us better people and turn good work into something that’s great.
Service – You communicate clearly, stay calm under pressure, anticipate the needs of others, respond promptly to requests, show a sincere desire to build relationships, and prove yourself to be a reliable, go-to player on the M^cMillan team.

You bring

3-5 years’ experience as a production designer in an agency or similar environment
An intermediate-level familiarity with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, PowerPoint, Acrobat and supplemented by advanced knowledge of at least one of those applications

A diploma or degree in graphic design or equally relevant education is preferred. Familiarity with HTML/CSS will be considered a significant asset.

You should expect

Some travel and overtime may be required.

Think you have what it takes? Then we want to hear from you. Just fill out the application below, and if you’ve got what we’re looking for, we’ll be in touch.

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