Reporting to: Head of trade marketing
Department: Trade marketing
Location: Parktown, Johannesburg
Position overview
The traffic and scheduling coordinator is responsible for working within the Arena Holdings design hub to guide and manage the production of all creative projects and design outputs, including ads-on-page creation and visual design publishing from the starting point of initiating project plans, through development and on to project completion.
The role includes scheduling all design work flowing through the department and allocating, monitoring and adjusting as required the work allocated to the designers within the hub to ensure that all visual design projects are completed timeously and with excellent quality within the allocated deadlines. The incumbent is required to manage estimating/pricing, traffic, production management, quality control, and deadline and team management. This role will also be hands-on with reformatting/proofing print, digital and web deliverables. The position may require shift and weekend work to ensure all the publishing requirements, marketing and sales design requirements are met within specific deadlines.
Main responsibilities
- Open job bags/numbers and ensure that the brief, the attachments, the reference material, the timing plan etc is in the design funnel and on the required schedule.
- Create the schedule for designers and make sure it is updated daily.
- Keep track of all the jobs until is it completed. Clients are not allowed to have more than three changes unless communicated otherwise.
- Ensure that every job briefed in has a deadline and ensure all contents are on the briefing form: text, logos, deadline and pics etc.
- Have a holistic view on the job at hand.
- Be enquiring and questioning and check the job at hand.
- Ensure that all creative is signed and approved by ALL relevant parties before the creative goes back to the designer to be packaged.
- Track the productivity of the designers in the studio. Adapt scheduling to changes eg unplanned urgent briefs and/or power outages especially in the remote work-from-home environment.
- Monitor the turnaround within studio and develop strategies to increase efficiencies where needed.
- Audit and report on any software/hardware needs that ensures the smooth throughflow within the studio.
- General admin as required.
Production duties
- Planning and organising production schedules for all printing or production requirements.
- Get three comparable production quotes for any collateral that needs printing.
- Send the quote to the line manager for approval; once approved send it back to service provider with the PO number.
- Monitor quality, accuracy, and timeliness of all orders to ensure customer commitments are met through production of high quality material that meets customer delivery expectations.
- Take all necessary actions to manage production costs and improve profitability.
- Oversee the production of all visual design until completion within the set deadlines related to editorial, marketing and sales.
Skills, attributes and attitudes
- Excellent IT skills, especially with design and photo-editing software as well as adaptability to any IT systems that may be introduced to manage scheduling, time management and business processes related to design and production.
- Excellent time management and organisational skills.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
- Accuracy and attention to detail are paramount.
- An understanding of the latest trends and their role within a commercial environment.
- Professional approach to time, costs and deadlines.
- Able to withstand above average work pressure and work on multiple briefs simultaneously.
- Must be confident with the ability to self-manage briefs and activities, and at the same time take design direction from other team members and the head of department.
- Must have presentation skills.
- Must have good communication and problem-solving skills.
- Flexibility and adaptability to ensure the business outputs are met especially where reprioritization occurs as a matter of course.
- Work as part of a team.
- Determination and resilience to see all projects to their completion.
- Creativity and innovation an advantage.
- Customer focus.
- Team oriented.
- Detail and accuracy oriented.
- Priority setting.
- Deadline driven.
- Determination and resilience.
- Excellent communicator.
- Dealing with ambiguity.
- Planning.
Qualifications and experience
- Relevant tertiary qualification and at least two years’ experience in a similar environment.
- Project management skills:
- Qualification in a PM and scheduling package a distinct advantage.
- Ability to work on the scheduling software, specifically Monday.com
- Working knowledge Adobe Creative Suite CC in PC environment: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash (optional)
- Understanding of various mediums and printing processes with the ability to create print-ready production files, based on the project specifications (CMYK, PMS, Hexachrome etc).
- Microsoft Office Suite – superb proficiency: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
- Knowledge of pre-press and print production (digital & litho).
- Basic knowledge of IT products and services.
- Knowledge of all the media brands within Arena Holdings and where necessary competitor brands.
- Understanding of media planning and booking an advantage.
Qualified applicants may submit their CV to mediarecruitment@arena.africa.
Closing date: November 24 2020
Arena Holdings is an equal opportunity employer. Preference will be given to candidates who will add to the diversity of our organisation. Kindly take note that if we do not respond to you in the next two months, you may regard your application as unsuccessful.
