Astor Chocolate is hiring: Packaging Designer in Lakewood

Astor Chocolate is a 4th generation privately held, family-owned company and has been a leading purveyor of chocolate for over 90 years with our core strengths being innovation, creativity, and dedication to creating premium products. The company services multiple industries ranging from Hospitality, Travel Retail, Food Service, ASI, and Gourmet specialty retailers. Astor, with our energetic team atmosphere, believes the success of our growth is our strong commitment to developing our employees’ potential. We are committed to building the company with talented, and motivated individuals who will uphold our mission of being a market leader, by innovating and servicing our customers with extreme dedication.

Primary Function:

Working together with our internal design team, the Packaging Designer will be responsible for the design, development, and innovation of packaging designs for a wide range of Astor Chocolate’s brands and products. In this role, the ideal candidate has direct oversight for packaging and graphic development from concept to production, by creating original and trend forward design concepts and ensuring the timely execution of each stage in the production process. This position requires a strong understanding and experience in consumables/CPG/food markets. This position requires extreme collaboration with internal sales and product development teams to create best in class strategic packaging solutions that will perform successfully in the marketplace and support Astor Chocolate’s market share and growth as a leader in the confectionary industry. The ideal candidate possesses a strong ability to work in a mid-size company that requires a multi-tasking “can do” detail-oriented attitude and understands that their output is key driver to Astor Chocolate’s operations and continued success.

Responsibilities:

• Knowledge of print and packaging, production methods, technologies, and creative standards including but not limited to print techniques, maintain component color development
• Develop designs and concepts for product packaging; prepare production ready files for print
• Strong level of creativity, conceptualization, execution, organization, and design skills
• Collaborate with engineering and production partners on execution; successfully navigate situations where manufacturing hurdles arise
• Flexible partner across functions and understand/be able to react to requests from partners as appropriate; strong filter for assessing impact of these choices
• Demonstrates Industry leading graphic design and typography skills with the ability to develop graphic systems across a complex landscape of products
• Visualize and create graphics including logos, layouts, and photos
• Ability to line draw products for line sheet or presentation
• Research packaging and product trends to deliver best-in-class, customer-centric packaging design solutions
• Work on creative initiatives from concept to completion, meeting deadlines with emphasis on project management
• Understands direct industry related trends: latest technology and consumer products, price points and materials that will influence Astor Chocolate products
• Capability in creating digital 3D packaging mock ups for leadership concept review
• Support with other print and brand collateral needs as necessary

Qualifications and Essential Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Design, or related field of study
• Packaging design experience
• Ability to translate innovative and creative ideas in presentation format to management team
• Excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills
• High proficiency in ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE (Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat), Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• Portfolio with professional packaging design work showcasing fully designed suite of products
• Understanding of packaging structure, packaging style guides, and printing
• Strong understanding of graphic design, layout, color and typography
• Understand timelines and can work in fast-paced atmospheres
• Must be a team player

BENEFITS:

At Astor Chocolate, we ask a lot of our employees, and we give a lot in return. We believe that every successful relationship is reciprocal.

In addition to your competitive salary, we offer a compliment of benefit offerings.

The most important benefits we believe we can provide you are:

• A work environment that is positive and engaging, yet challenges you to perform your absolute best work
• A company that you can “call home” for as long as you would like to
• A job that does not feel like a job because you are actually enjoying what you are most passionate about
• Recognition for a job well done

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY:

Astor Chocolate recognizes the necessity of building an inclusive culture that values each employee’s individuality and diverse perspectives. We are committed to providing equal opportunity to all employees, creating an environment that promotes inclusion and cultural differences.

Astor Chocolate is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other protected class and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability