Product & Design Manager in Loughborough

We’re looking for a highly organised Product & Design Manager to act as the Creative Director’s right hand and keep our product pipeline running smoothly. You will manage the Product & Design team, plan workloads, and ensure every brief is delivered on time, on brand and to a high standard. You’ll be the person who turns ideas and deadlines into clear plans, keeps projects moving, and isn’t afraid to push for quality and clarity. If you love a creative environment and get a buzz from designing and engineering beautiful products this could be the role for you.

Job Purpose: Lead the day-to-day operations and creative output of the Product and Design team, turning the Creative Director’s vision and briefs into clear, resourced and scheduled plans, and delivering every project on time, on brief and on brand. Design and develop commercially viable products that generate the best return on investment, creating your own product concepts and artwork as well as managing designs from external artists and licences.

Take ownership of line management, workflow planning and quality control within the team, freeing up the Creative Director to focus on overall brand direction and business priorities, while you keep delivery on track and all visual output on brand.

• Line manage, coach and develop the Product & Design team.
• Set clear objectives, standards and growth plans; hold regular 1:1s and performance reviews.
• Set and uphold team ways-of-working: brand guidelines, response times, meeting rhythms, status reporting, file-naming, proofing and sign-off etiquette.

• Build and maintain a single, transparent master schedule covering all product cycles, customer submissions, catalogue/seasonal milestones, and marketing design needs; publish weekly priorities and critical paths.
• Ownership of resourcing and capacity planning; allocate work across Product and Design Team; elevate risks early; remove blockers.
• Own end to end timelines for catalogue and key launches, ensuring all associated product, marketing and digital deliverables are completed on schedule.
• Run quick team check-ins and weekly progress reviews, keeping a simple tracker of who’s doing what and by when, and ensure each project gets the right sign-offs on time.

• Create original designs and product concepts for stationery, gifts and greeting cards that align with Ohh Deer’s brand identity and customer expectations.
• Bring proactive ideas for new ranges, formats and collaborations, regularly sharing concepts and suggestions with the Creative Director and wider team.
• Turn ideas into clear, deliverable product briefs, including mock ups, specifications and reference material for suppliers and internal teams.
• Work with the Creative Director to refine concepts through feedback and critique, ensuring that final designs feel cohesive across ranges and seasons.
• Stay informed on design trends, competitors and customer insights, using this knowledge to propose fresh, commercially strong product ideas.

• Translate the Creative Director’s vision into clear briefs, checklists and acceptance criteria for product, marketing and digital work, ensuring all designs meet brand guidelines and retailer or client specifications.
• Act as first line brand and quality control for all visual output across Product & Design and other teams, ensuring assets are accurate, on brand and technically correct before they reach the Creative Director.
• Create and run a clear approval process for visual work, with your brand and quality check first, and Creative Director sign off added where needed.

• Coordinate supplier interactions (specs, proofs, sampling, colour matching).
• Support artist sourcing, briefing and relationship management to build a strong portfolio that the company can pull from.

• Partner with Sales/Commercial on submissions and samples for key and national accounts; ensure on-time delivery of assets and presentations.
• Communicate changes that affect timelines, budgets, or scope to Operations, Purchasing, Marketing, Warehouse & Fulfilment.
• Use sales data, trends and customer feedback to sequence projects and refine ranges for ROI and profit.

• Regularly review set KPI’s, prepare regular activity reports and metrics and report directly to the Line Manager.
• Undertake ad hoc projects as required in order to meet the needs of the business.
• Contribute to process and systems development, making suggestions and recommendations to the directors to assist in the growth and success of the Company.
• Assist colleagues and support the Company generally, undertaking additional duties and tasks as required.

• Proven experience leading/traffic-managing creative/product teams in a design/publishing/stationery or related product environment.
• Strong Adobe familiarity and print preparation literacy to manage quality (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).
• Demonstrable planning/project management capability across multiple concurrent deadlines.
• GCSE Maths and English (or equivalent) Grade C or higher.
• Competent with Microsoft Office/Google Suite.
• Experience in a small, fast-paced business.
• Knowledge of project management software, particularly design-based systems.

• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail; able to set pace and hold standards.
• Clear, confident communicator; strong stakeholder and supplier management.
• Problem-solver with sound judgment; comfortable making decisions and escalating appropriately.
• Able to prioritise and manage time effectively; calm under pressure and deadline-driven.
• Flexible, collaborative and supportive of a small business environment; willingness to work outside office hours when required.
• Creative and innovative.

Founded by Jamie Mitchell and Mark Callaby in 2011, Ohh Deer is an independent, fast-growing start-up company selling greeting cards, stationery and gifts. In 2024, Ohh Deer became a Certified B Corp, meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. We are passionate about what we do and aim to be leaders in our craft. We source the best artists, suppliers and staff to help us meet these expectations.

Ohh Deer and all of our projects uphold values of inclusivity, acceptance, tolerance, equality and equity. We actively advocate the importance of nurturing positive mental health and have zero-tolerance on any form of discrimination. We celebrate art and believe in showcasing work on our products and platforms. We believe in being responsible for our planet and actively put the environment first.

At Ohh Deer, we are committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all activities to ensure an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work. We strive to represent, celebrate and embrace diversity, ensuring equal opportunities regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, language, abilities/disabilities, socioeconomic status, geographic region, or other defining characteristics.