Print Production Specialist

ABOUT US

tms unites technology, marketing, and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With 1,200+ employees across 26 countries, we offer an impressive range of solutions – from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery.

Operating as a creative agency, a strategic consultancy, a sourcing business, and a technology provider, we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for our clients, including McDonald’s, T-Mobile, O2, Starbucks, and adidas.

Most importantly, we're a place where you can achieve great things, and be recognized as the best.

WHAT MATTERS THE MOST

Breakthrough, business-driving ideas come from extraordinary people with the freedom to be their most authentic selves at work. Authenticity and diversity are critical elements of our business. They can only be realized when we create access and equity for all. We foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and aspire to be ever-evolving.

tms is a place where brilliant people are better together. If you want your ideas to be heard and to contribute to a culture of inclusion and authenticity, bring us your voice! Visit us at tmsw.com.

WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS ROLE

The Print Production Specialist (PPM) – IMEA will be part of the Global Graphics team, which is responsible for delivering high-quality packaging artwork and print production solutions for leading multinational brands. This includes managing core packaging design programmes as well as supporting a high volume of promotional and sales-driving campaigns across the region.

The role serves as a key link between internal stakeholders, Creative Agencies, reprographics partners, and print suppliers, providing expert guidance on print production, graphics, and packaging execution. The PPM will oversee projects from concept through to final artwork approval and production, ensuring all deliverables meet brand standards, technical specifications, quality requirements, and project timelines.

Stakeholder management within a complex matrix organisation is a critical aspect of this role, requiring a structured, methodical, and professional approach to managing graphics and promotional change processes. The successful candidate must be highly organised, capable of managing multiple concurrent projects, meeting demanding deadlines, and delivering exceptional levels of service to internal and external stakeholders.

The Print Production Specialist is responsible for overseeing the production of packaging and print projects across a wide range of substrates and printing technologies. The primary objective of the role is to ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality printed graphics, maintaining creative integrity, colour accuracy, and brand standards throughout the production process, regardless of substrate or print method.

Reporting directly to the Senior Print Production Team Manager – EU/IMEA, the role will operate in alignment with global PQM standards and processes, supporting a ‘One Way Globally’ approach to print quality and execution. The position requires the ability to provide expert guidance on print production, colour management, artwork development, design feasibility, creative reviews, and technical print-related activities, ensuring all outputs are delivered to the highest quality standards.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ORGANIZATION

Graphics and Print Expertise

• Oversight of the end-to-end packaging print production process, with specialist expertise in graphics, colour management, and print technologies.
• Deliver early-stage print feasibility assessments to ensure creative concepts can be accurately and efficiently reproduced in production.
• Responsible for reviewing incoming agency artwork and utilising Adobe Creative Suite to execute technical corrections where needed.
• Advise creative agencies on print specifications, production capabilities, and achievable outcomes to ensure optimal quality and design integrity
• Ensure all projects are accurately initiated within WebCenter and oversee end-to-end execution across internal teams, external agencies, and production partners.
• Review and approve colour contract proofs, printed samples, and ink drawdowns (where required), ensuring accurate reproduction of creative intent and adherence to quality standards.
• Ensure all agency-supplied final artwork is accurate, compliant, and print-ready, meeting all technical and production requirements prior to release to prepress and print.
• Management of internal resources or external prepress facilities to ensure quality standards and timelines are followed.
• Manage Print Quality Management (PQM) process, ensure CCJ’s are available for all jobs and global ink workflow has been followed for new spot colours.
• Assess packaging samples for print quality, colour accuracy, and content compliance, providing clear feedback to suppliers to resolve defects and ensure adherence to approved standards.
• Manage supplier performance against established KPIs, ensuring compliance with our PQM programme requirements and driving continuous quality improvement.
• Partner closely with cross-functional teams, agency partners, and suppliers to ensure seamless project execution and timelines, effective stakeholder alignment, and successful delivery.
• This is also a Brand Guardianship role: ensuring the centralised management of approved artwork, brand guidelines, and digital assets to maintain brand integrity, consistency, and compliance across all markets.

Internal & External Client Service

• Serve as the primary IMEA point of contact for packaging graphics and print-related projects, providing expert leadership, stakeholder alignment, and end-to-end project oversight.
• Liaise with cross-functional stakeholders and supplier partners to manage the development, revision, and execution of new and existing artwork, ensuring alignment with brand, quality, and production requirements.
• Partner with McDonald’s Marketing and agency teams to deliver globally compliant promotional artwork, ensuring packaging designs are print-ready, production-feasible, and aligned with brand standards.
• Partner with internal and external teams to execute creative initiatives within challenging regional timelines, driving workflow optimisation and operational excellence throughout the production process.
• Manage the McDonald’s Global Review Centre (GRC) approval process, partnering with client stakeholders to ensure timely, compliant, and efficient global approvals.
• Prioritise and manage projects to meet customer timelines and critical deliverable milestones, serving as the primary liaison between customers and internal stakeholders.
• Participate in creative reviews and customer and supplier meetings, providing expert guidance and stakeholder alignment to support successful project delivery.
• Attend all required local market and Global Graphics Teams calls (which generally will be during later hours for IMEA).

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO HAVE

• College level education in Graphics, Print, or Colour Management
• 5-7 years management experience in a packaging graphics/repro/studio environment
• Experience & solid knowledge of flexographic, lithographic and gravure print
• Thorough knowledge of managing artwork and repro processes for packaging & POP
• Solid experience of working with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat and Microsoft 365
• Fully Mac literate including good working knowledge of OSX
• Native or business-level fluency in Arabic is essential to facilitate communication and relationship management across the IMEA market
• Experience of working through a matrix organization where clients/partners may be based in different geographies with varying levels of understanding
• Ability to build rapport and inspire confidence across a wide stakeholder group
• Great stakeholder management skills within the ability to adapt your approach across multiple levels of an organisation
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to lead internal and external meetings as required
• Must have passport and be prepared to travel as required for the role

 And we’d love you to…  

• Demonstrated experience in packaging artwork production, including creating artwork from initial concepts, adapting and updating existing designs, performing basic colour corrections and retouching, and conducting detailed quality checks and proofreading to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Any of the following would be a plus

• Esko WebCenter, X-Rite ColorCert, overall colour management expertise / use of spectrophotometers to measure colour