Creative Operations Manager

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Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

How You’ll Make An Impact

The Retail Creative Operations Manager drives operational excellence and brand consistency across our store fleet and in partner retail locations. This role oversees the planning, execution, and delivery of marketing campaigns, promotions, and special projects, ensuring the brand is represented consistently and effectively across all retail environments. The manager leads day-to-day retail production operations, manages procurement of POS/POP materials, and serves as the key liaison between internal teams and external vendors. By fostering collaboration, streamlining workflows, and anticipating challenges, this role ensures a seamless, best-in-class in-store experience that elevates brand presentation and engages the consumer everywhere the brand is represented.

This role reports into the Director of Production, has 2 direct reports and is based in our Atlanta offices, and is on-site 4 days a week.

65 %: Operations Planning/Management

• Manage daily operations and project schedules for retail creative production across all Carter’s, Inc. brands,includingcorporateandwholesale accounts
• Lead and mentor the retail production team, supporting their growth and development, helping set priorities, and troubleshooting challenges to ensure success
• Collaborate with creative, visual merchandisingand cross-functional partners to set deliverables, release artwork, and ensure final delivery on time and on brand
• Drive quality control for all internal and external deliverables, ensuring brand consistency and excellence
• Conductstoresvisits toevaluate execution, gather feedback, andidentifyopportunities for improvement
• Partner with finance on project forecasting,budgettrackingand reporting
• Monitorproject spend to budgetsand proactively manage resource allocation
• Streamline workflows, implementprocess improvements, and develop exception processes whereneeded
• Identifyand elevatebest-in-class vendors, technology, materials, and trends to improve quality, efficiency, and cost savings
• Stay current on retail trends and customer behaviors to create innovative, scalable, and future-proof store environments
• Prepare and present quarterly reports to Creative Ops team and leadership on marketing inventory and signage production, tracking usage, availability, and project status to inform planning and decision-making
  
  

45 %: Task Management

• Provide unified leadership across the production and creative operations teams, setting checkpoints and ensuring reviews, approvals, and deliverables arecompleted on time
• Managestore openings, closings, and conversion kits, including warehousing, fulfillment, inventory management, and ship notifications
• Lead the sourcing, quotes, and negotiationswith vendors for print,signageand other in-store marketingseasonalmaterials
• Oversee procurement of all POS/POP materials,negotiating contracts, and ensuring vendor accountability foron-timedelivery and cost-effective solutions
• Coordinate status meetings with cross-functional teams and external partners, providing guidance to the team on priorities and workflow
• Manage the “Retail Only” inbox,prioritizing and resolving requests and issues promptly
• Support new store rolloutsand retail initiatives through detailed project and production planning
  
  

Must Have

We’d Love to hear from you if:

• 5 years of production budget management experience, including metrics,utilizationreporting, and delivering cost-effective results
• Experience leading creativeretailoperations or production teams in high-volume, fast-paced environments
• 5 years of experience with print and substrate materials
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, and distribution lists simultaneously (familiarity with tools like Smartsheetis a plus)
• Strong problem-solvingskills with the ability to adapt and propose alternatives under changing circumstances
• Experience managing projects within budget and schedule constraints
• Vendor managementexpertise, including RFQs andcontract negotiation
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and accountable with exceptional follow-through
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, confident in cross-functional and vendor-facing interactions
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, witha track recordof driving efficient solutions
• Proactive leader who fosters communication flow, aligns cross-functional teams, and drives accountability for successful outcomes
• Strong time-management skills; adaptable, flexible, and positive under pressure
• Demonstrated leadership, mentorship, or team coordination experience, including guiding, supporting, and developing team members
• Proven ability to build andmaintainstrong relationships with internal teams and external vendors
  
  

Preferred Skills And Experience

• 3 years of direct supervision experience
• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign
• Experience managing retail in-store operations, POS/POP production, and rollout projects
• Advancedproficiencyin Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Bachelor’s degree preferred
  
  

Make a Career At Carter’s

• Career Development: Success starts from within, and we have several paths from which you can choose to enhance yourcareerevolution. From Carter’s University to Toastmasters to mentorship programs and more, we encourage you toutilizethese tools to elevate your professional prowess.
  
  

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The duties described may be changed or reassigned at the discretion of management, and the employee may be required to perform duties that are not listed in the job description.

Carters is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.

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