Freelance Operations Manager Jobs in Ohio (NOW HIRING)

Why Oatey?

Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries, with a commitment to delivering quality, building trust and improving lives. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network comprised of industry leading family of companies: Oatey, Cherne, Keeney, Quick Drain, Hercules, Dearborn, Oatey Canada, William H. Harvey, Masters, Contact, Belanger, Lansas, and Durgo.

At Oatey, we're doing big things - and by joining us, you'll have the chance to do big things too. You can build a strong career in an innovative, inclusive, high-performance environment, with the confidence that your company cares - about you, our customers and our world.Ready to make an impact in a place where you matter?

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Position Summary:
The Art Director leads the creative vision and execution for Oatey Co. and its family of brands. This role is responsible for inspiring and developing the creative team while translating business strategies into compelling visual solutions that strengthen the brand and support commercial objectives. The Art Director provides strategic creative leadership across packaging, digital, marketing communications and customer-facing materials, ensuring design excellence, brand consistency and operational effectiveness. Working closely with the Senior Director, Brand Strategy, Creative Operations Specialist, cross-functional business partners, external agencies and global creative teams, this role drives innovation, embraces emerging technologies, and continuously elevates the organization's creative capabilities. This position reports to the Senior Director, Brand Strategy.

Position Responsibilities:

• Lead the creative vision and execution for Oatey Co. and its family of brands across North America and Europe, ensuring compelling, consistent and strategically aligned creative solutions that support business objectives.

• Partner with the Brand, Product, and Channel Marketing teams to translate business strategies into creative initiatives that strengthen the brand and drive growth.

• Lead, coach, develop and inspire the graphic design team, fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, collaboration and continuous professional development.

• Partners with external creative agencies, photographers, freelancers and creative teams across Oatey's global business units to deliver cohesive, high-quality creative solutions.

• Champion creative excellence by identifying emerging design trends, technologies and AI-enabled tools that improve team capabilities, creative effectiveness and operational efficiency.

• Provide strategic oversight of packaging, labels and other production artwork, ensuring designs are optimized for manufacturing, quality and brand consistency.

• Provide creative direction and oversight for the development of marketing components supporting the organization's brands, products and customers, including displays, brochures, catalogs, literature, advertising, digital content, ecommerce assets, internal communications, logos and more.

• Guide and approve creative concepts, design layouts and final deliverables, ensuring quality, consistency and alignment with Oatey's visual brand standards.

• Maintain and evolve Oatey's visual brand standards, identifying opportunities to strengthen brand consistency across all customer touchpoints.

• Manage creative team workload and priorities through the digital project management system (Wrike), ensuring efficient resource allocation and timely project delivery.

• Partner with the Creative Operations Specialist to improve design processes, file management and production efficiencies to enhance team effectiveness and business outcomes.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of work experience in creative design.

• Minimum of 5 years supervisory experience.

• Expert knowledge of graphic design principles across product packaging, labels, marketing collateral, digital media, point-of-sale materials and other customer-facing assets.

• Demonstrated experience designing and preparing production-ready artwork for a variety of consumer and industrial packaging formats, with a strong understanding of print production and pre-press processes.

• Experience in a consumer-packaged goods environment is required.

• Experience managing multiple concurrent creative projects and collaborating across cross-functional teams.

• Experience collaborating with external agencies, vendors and global creative teams.

• Project management and time management skills are necessary.

• Demonstrated creativity and very close attention to detail.

• Proficient knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite: Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop.

• Experience with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems is preferred.

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, communications, or equivalent field, or equivalent relevant work experience in lieu of bachelor's degree.

Physical Activities and Other Working Conditions:

• Associates working at Corporate sites are required to work in-person according to the Hybrid & Remote Workplace Policy.

• This role is primarily sedentary and involves prolonged periods of sitting and working on a computer. Regular use of hands for typing and operating office equipment is required, along with visual focus on screens and documents. Occasional standing, walking, and lifting up to 10-15 pounds may be required. Work is performed in a climate-controlled office or remote environment with moderate noise levels.

• Minimal travel is required.

#LI-Hybrid

#LI-SV1

Compensation Range for the Position:

Target Cash Profit Sharing for the Position:

Offer amount determined by experience and review of internal talent.

Oatey Total Rewards

• Generous paid time off programs and paid company holidays to support flexibility and work-life balance

• Annual Discretionary Cash Profit Sharing

• Immediate eligibility and vesting in 401(k), including 100% company match, up to 5% of eligible compensation

• Market leading health insurance including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance offerings for associates and qualified dependents

• Significant company contribution to Health Savings Account with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)

• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability income protection coverage at no cost to associates

• Paid Maternity and Paid Parental Leave

• Tuition reimbursement

• A strong set of complementary resources to support associate well-being, including resource groups, EAP, and dedicated mental health support.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Oatey family of companies are an equal opportunity employer committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We recruit, employ, promote, and offer competitive pay for all jobs without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Protect Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Oatey is committed to a safe and transparent hiring process. Please be aware of fraudulent recruiting communications.

How to recognize official Oatey communication:

• Emails will come from @oatey.com or oatey@myworkday.com

• We do not use unofficial or misspelled domains

What Oatey will never do:

• Ask for payment or fees at any stage

• Request sensitive personal or financial information early in the process

• Make a job offer without interviews

If something seems suspicious, do not engage. Instead, verify roles through our careers site and please make us aware by contacting recruiting@oatey.com.