Director of Operations
Toronto, ON · On-site
Keep merch creation smooth from manufacturing through fulfillment, balancing cost, quality, and ... A track record of designing and scaling processes and teams to match a rapidly growing business ...
Director of Operations
Toronto, ON · On-site
Keep merch creation smooth from manufacturing through fulfillment, balancing cost, quality, and ... A track record of designing and scaling processes and teams to match a rapidly growing business ...
Senior Manager Marketing
Toronto, ON · On-site
This role oversees a multidisciplinary team of Marketing Manager, Graphic Designers, Social Media ... Merch, and Leadership. * Translate business needs into actionable creative briefs and campaigns.
Senior Manager Marketing
Toronto, ON · On-site
This role oversees a multidisciplinary team of Marketing Manager, Graphic Designers, Social Media ... Merch, and Leadership. * Translate business needs into actionable creative briefs and campaigns.
Senior Manager Marketing
Toronto, ON · On-site
This role oversees a multidisciplinary team of Marketing Manager, Graphic Designers, Social Media ... Merch, and Leadership. * Translate business needs into actionable creative briefs and campaigns.
Senior Manager Marketing
Toronto, ON · On-site
This role oversees a multidisciplinary team of Marketing Manager, Graphic Designers, Social Media ... Merch, and Leadership. * Translate business needs into actionable creative briefs and campaigns.
Merch Designer information
What is a merch designer?
A merch designer is a creative professional who designs artwork and graphics for merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, tote bags, and other promotional items. They often work with brands, bands, influencers, or companies to create visually appealing products that resonate with fans or customers. Merch designers combine artistic skills with an understanding of market trends to produce items that are both stylish and commercially viable. Their work can involve digital illustration, typography, and collaborating with printers or manufacturers to ensure quality production.
What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a merch designer?
To thrive as a Merch Designer, you need strong graphic design abilities, creativity, and a solid understanding of branding and marketing principles, often supported by a degree in graphic design or a related field. Proficiency in industry-standard design software such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and knowledge of print production processes is crucial. Excellent communication, attention to detail, and the ability to interpret client needs help Merch Designers create appealing, marketable products. These skills ensure that designs effectively represent brands, resonate with target audiences, and drive merchandise sales.
How does a merch designer typically collaborate with marketing and product teams?
A Merch Designer regularly works alongside marketing and product teams to ensure that merchandise aligns with brand identity and campaign goals. This collaboration often involves brainstorming sessions, sharing design drafts for feedback, and adapting concepts to fit marketing strategies or upcoming product launches. Open communication is key, as designers must balance creative vision with commercial objectives, production constraints, and timelines. By working closely with cross-functional teams, Merch Designers help create cohesive and marketable merchandise collections.
What is the difference between Merch Designer vs Graphic Designer?
| Aspect | Merch Designer | Graphic Designer |
|---|---|---|
| Credentials | Relevant design skills, portfolio, sometimes fashion or product design experience | Design skills, portfolio, often graphic design certifications or degrees |
| Work Environment | Fashion brands, retail, merchandise companies, e-commerce | Advertising agencies, media companies, corporate branding |
| Industry Usage | Used in fashion, retail, and merchandise sectors | Used across various industries including marketing, publishing, and branding |
Merch Designers focus on creating designs for physical or digital merchandise like apparel, accessories, and promotional items, often working closely with product teams. Graphic Designers create visual content for branding, advertising, and digital media, with a broader scope across industries. While both roles require strong design skills and portfolios, Merch Designers specialize in merchandise-specific projects, whereas Graphic Designers have a wider application in visual communication.
How much do merchandise designers make?
Merchandise designers typically earn between $40,000 and $70,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and industry. Entry-level designers may start lower, while experienced professionals or those working for major brands can earn higher salaries. Skills in graphic design software and a strong portfolio can influence earning potential.
Full-time
Medical, Dental, PTO
Posted 28 days ago
Job description
About the Company
Makeship empowers influencers, creators, and brands of all sizes to develop and launch limited-edition products that matter to their fans. Leveraging our design, manufacturing, and marketing expertise, we work with our partners to bring their products to life through our community-powered crowdfunding platform. Each product is given a window of 21 days to be funded by the community before we produce and ship to fans worldwide. We put our brand behind every product and guarantee quality and ethical sourcing.
We're profitable, we have a three-year revenue growth of over 200%, ranking us 97th in 2024 and 86th on The Globe and Mail'sCanada's Top Growing Companies of 2025list. We are also excited to announce that Makeship has officially beenGreat Place to Work-Certifiedfor 3 years in a row! Learn more about us atMakeship.com.
About the Role
As an early team member, you'll play a huge role in shaping our culture, our process, and the future of Makeship. Every day, you'll collaborate, learn more about the content creation space, and watch your work impact the company and the community! We want this to be the best work experience of your life, so we'll pay you well, offer great benefits, invest deeply in your growth, and welcome you with our branded swag. You will also be joining one of Canada's fastest-growing start-ups!
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for aDirector of Operations who will own the end-to-end operational health of Makeship, from creator onboarding, through merch design and manufacturing, to the moment a product lands in a fan's hands. This is a foundational, high-visibility role for someone who is energized by ambiguity, thinks in systems, and wants to build, not just maintain, the processes that let us scale.
We are looking for a leader who can zoom out to diagnose where our operations are creating friction, risk, or hidden cost, and zoom in to lead the teams that fix it. As ourDirector of Operations, you'll lead our Business Operations and Customer Support teams, oversee our supply chain, and partner closely with Systems Engineering to create the operational infrastructure that sets up the rest of the org for success. Reporting directly to our VP of Product & Technology, you will evolve how we operate so we can keep pace with our rapid growth as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies.
Your Key Responsibilities
- Business health oversight: Analyze the health of our campaign operations end to end, identifying inefficiencies and risks, and building a holistic view of business health
- Business operations leadership: Lead the Business Operations team, ensuring smooth day-to-day execution of every campaign while evolving our internal workflows and systems in partnership with Systems Engineering.
- Supply chain management: Keep merch creation smooth from manufacturing through fulfillment, balancing cost, quality, and timeliness across our manufacturing pipeline and internal teams.
- Customer support leadership: Lead the Customer Support team, owning the quality, responsiveness, and tooling behind our 1:1 relationship with fans.
- Insights & feedback loops: Equip teams across the org with regular insights - support trends, sentiment tracking, research findings, and internal metrics.
- Research enablement: Set up the tools and processes that make it easy for teams to reach creators and fans and learn directly from them.
What You Bring
- 8+ years of experience in operations, business operations, or a related leadership role, ideally within a high-growth D2C, e-commerce, or marketplace business.
- A track record of designing and scaling processes and teams to match a rapidly growing business, not just running what already exists.
- Strong analytical instincts; you can look at a process and see where it's quietly costing the business time, money, or trust.
- Experience partnering with manufacturing or supply chain partners to balance cost, quality, and speed.
- Excellent cross-functional leadership skills; you can influence and coordinate across engineering, design, finance, and external partners without needing direct authority over all of them.
Bonus
- Experience leading customer-facing or support teams
- Experience in the creator economy, crowdfunding, or merchandise/apparel industries.
- Experience managing or evaluating outsourced research or agency relationships.
- Experience building a function from the ground up inside a scaling startup.
- Familiarity with drop-shipping or overseas (e.g., China-based) manufacturing operations.
- Mandarin fluency
Benefits & Perks
- Work remotely anywhere in Canada and/or access any of our hubs
- Health and dental benefits from day 1
- 4 weeks of paid vacation (including paid time off on your birthday)
- An additional 1 week of paid time off during the winter holidays
- Virtual & In-Person Social Events
- Annual Paid Volunteer Day Off
- 1:1 RRSP Matching Program Up to 3%
- $500 Pre-Tax Annual Health & Wellness Allowance
- $400 Pre-Tax Home Office Setup Allowance
- $65 Pre-Tax Monthly Phone Allowance
- Maternity and Parental Leave Top-Up Program
- Education Assistance Program
- Employee Referral Program
- Tenured Rewards Program
Salary Band: $130-160k CAD per annum. Individual salaries will be dependent on unique skills, experience and qualifications.
Vacancy Status: Existing vacancy
AI Use Disclosure:
As part of our hiring process, we may use AI-powered tools to support tasks such as application screening and note-taking. These tools are used to assist our team, and all hiring decisions are made by humans.
We are committed to fair and unbiased hiring practices. If you require accommodations or have questions about how your application is assessed, please let us know.
At Makeship we are committed to fostering an environment that welcomes people of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities. We are passionate about building an equitable and inclusive culture for our unique and diverse team of employees which makes us Makeship. As an equal-opportunity employer, we value and embrace everyone's opinions and differences, and actively seek new Makeshippers who will work respectfully with our team, propelling our company and the community forward. If there are any accommodations we can provide to make your interview experience more accessible and inclusive, please let us know in your application.