Product & Design Manager Ohh Deer Ltd

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.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Leadership & Line Management

• 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.

Planning, Traffic & Delivery

• 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; escalate risks early; remove blockers.
• Catalogue and key launches: own end to end timelines, making sure catalogues and all associated product, marketing and digital deliverables are completed on schedule.
• Run quick team check‑ins and weekly progress reviews, keep a simple tracker of who’s doing what and by when, and make sure each project gets the right sign‑offs on time.

Creative Design and Product Development

• Create original designs and product concepts for stationery, gifts and greeting cards that are in line 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 that can be used by 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, and use this knowledge to propose fresh, commercially strong product ideas.

Creative & Brand Governance

• 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 (for example brand marketing and web), making sure 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.

Product & Supplier/Artist Coordination

• 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.

Commercial & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• 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.

Data‑Led Decision Making

• Use sales data, trends and customer feedback to sequence projects and refine ranges for ROI and profit.
• To regularly review set KPI’s, prepare regular activity reports and metrics and report directly to the Line Manager.
• To undertake ad hoc projects as required in order to meet the needs of the business.
• To contribute to process and systems development, through making suggestions and recommendations to the directors, in order to assist in the growth and success of the Company.
• To assist colleagues and to support the Company generally, through undertaking additional duties and tasks from time to time as and when required.

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience:

Essential

• 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.

Desirable

• Experience in a small, fast‑paced business.
• Knowledge of project management software, in particular design based systems.