Director, Corrugate Development

JOB SUMMARY

Outform’s corrugate and promotional display business generates a high volume of direct revenue at a strong margin and supports a materially larger volume of attached work inside permanent fixture programs, including inserts, shippers, pallet displays and hybrid chassis builds across Beauty, Consumer Electronics and Food & Beverage.

The Director, Corrugate Development owns the people, the capability and the delivery performance of the corrugate and promotional display group, and is accountable for building it into a properly resourced, commercially responsive team that can support both direct promotional business and attached work on permanent fixture programs.

This is an operational leadership role rather than a design or innovation role. Candidates will be assessed in this order: ability to lead and develop a team; technical credibility with structural design and production; delivery discipline and workload planning; commercial partnership. The group is capable and established. The expectation is that it is made measurably better in deliberate steps, not rebuilt from scratch.

DIRECT REPORTS

The following positions report directly to the Director, Corrugate Development:

Structural Design — concept-through-production structural engineering for corrugate and promotional display programs.

Production Setup and Preflight — file preparation, die layout and press-ready release to the Chicago plant and external suppliers.

SCOPE & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Director is accountable for the full delivery capability of the corrugate and promotional display group: the size and shape of the team, the technical standards it works to, and the on-time, on-spec, on-cost performance of its portfolio. Scope covers direct promotional display revenue as well as attached corrugate work carried inside permanent fixture programs.

The role owns the capacity model for the group and leads the transition from contract-heavy delivery to a properly staffed internal team, retaining contract resource for genuine peak flex rather than baseline capacity. It also owns the design-for-manufacture relationship with Chicago plant operations and, in partnership with Supply Chain and Global Procurement, the evaluation of domestic and Asia-based sourcing options for corrugate substrates and components.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team leadership and capability

Lead and develop the corrugate and promotional display group across structural design, production setup and preflight documentation.

Establish clear roles, responsibilities and development plans for every seat on the team.

Build technical bench strength and reduce single-person dependencies on specialist knowledge.

Set the standard for how the team collaborates with commercial, procurement, plant operations and the wider development organization.

Hold regular one to one and development conversations, and give direct feedback early rather than storing it up.

Recruit, onboard and retain. Retention and development of this group are stated priorities for the business.

Capacity and resourcing

Own the capacity model for the group: forecast demand, size the team against it, and maintain visibility of workload versus available hours.

Lead the transition from contract-heavy delivery to a properly staffed internal team, retaining contract resource for genuine peak flex rather than baseline capacity.

Target a staffing level where today’s baseline workload consumes approximately 75% of team capacity, preserving headroom for new business and incoming permanent programs.

Build and defend the annual resourcing and budget case for the group.

Delivery and technical standards

Own on-time, on-spec, on-cost delivery for the group’s portfolio.

Set design-for-manufacture standards in partnership with Chicago plant operations, covering tooling, die construction, substrate selection and print production.

Drive cost engineering into design so that quoted margin is realized in production.

Establish repeatable estimating and scoping practice so commercial quotes are grounded in real production capability.

Commercial partnership

Act as the operational counterpart to the vertical sales leads, with Food & Beverage as the primary growth partner and Beauty, Consumer Electronics and DIY as attach-driven partners.

Support sales leadership in expanding corrugate and POP display revenue through existing accounts and increased attachment to permanent fixture programs.

Engage directly with clients on feasibility, structural approach and production trade-offs.

Support new business pursuit with technical credibility, rapid concepting and realistic delivery commitments.

Sourcing and cost strategy

Evaluate new materials, design approaches and manufacturing processes that improve cost competitiveness, sustainability and retail effectiveness, and implement those that prove out in production.

Partner with Supply Chain and Global Procurement on domestic and Asia-based supplier qualification for corrugate substrates and components.

Evaluate and, if validated, operationalize a hybrid sourcing model combining Asia-manufactured flat-pack components with domestic assembly, palletization and fulfilment.

Maintain a clear view of where Outform is and is not cost-competitive and bring that view to commercial planning.

KEY INTERFACES (NON-REPORTING)

Vertical sales leads — Food & Beverage as primary growth partner; Beauty, Consumer Electronics and DIY on attach-driven work.

Chicago plant operations — tooling, die construction, print production and design-for-manufacture standards.

Supply Chain and Global Procurement — domestic and Asia-based supplier qualification and cost strategy.

Permanent fixture development teams — inserts, shippers, pallet displays and hybrid chassis builds attached to permanent programs.

Estimating, project management and finance — quoting, margin realization and program budget performance.

Clients — feasibility, structural approach and production trade-off discussions.

FIRST TWELVE MONTHS

Beyond the ongoing measures below, the first year of this role has the following expected outcomes:

First 90 days: known and trusted by the team, with every person’s role, strengths and development needs understood. A clear picture of workload, capacity and where the pressure sits. Working relationships established with plant operations and the vertical sales leads.

Six months: roles and expectations clear across the group. Delivery performance measured and visible. Contract resource used for peaks rather than baseline. Two or three concrete process improvements made and holding.

Twelve months: group fully staffed and stable with strong retention. On-time delivery improved against the baseline set in the first quarter. Technical standards documented and in daily use.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Success in this role will be measured against metrics including but not limited to:

On-time, on-spec and on-cost delivery rate across the group’s portfolio.

Quoted versus realized margin on corrugate and promotional display programs.

Capacity utilization held at or near the 75% baseline target, with headroom preserved for new business and incoming permanent programs.

Reduction in contractor spend as a percentage of total delivery hours, with peak flex retained.

Growth in direct promotional revenue and in attached corrugate content on permanent pro