Creative Operations Manager

Carters Inc. • Atlanta, GA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

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, SkipHop 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 Buckhead office, and is on-site 4 days a week.

Requirements

• 5+ years of production budget management experience, including metrics, utilization reporting, and delivering cost-effective results
• Experience leading creative retail operations 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 Smartsheet is a plus)
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to adapt and propose alternatives under changing circumstances
• Experience managing projects within budget and schedule constraints
• Vendor management expertise, including RFQs and contract 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, with a track record of 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 and maintain strong relationships with internal teams and external vendors

Nice To Haves

• 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
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Bachelor’s degree preferred

Responsibilities

• Manage daily operations and project schedules for retail creative production across all Carter’s, Inc. brands, including corporate and wholesale 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 merchandising and 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
• Conduct stores visits to evaluate execution, gather feedback, and identify opportunities for improvement
• Partner with finance on project forecasting, budget tracking and reporting
• Monitor project spend to budgets and proactively manage resource allocation
• Streamline workflows, implement process improvements, and develop exception processes where needed
• Identify and elevate best-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
• Provide unified leadership across the production and creative operations teams, setting checkpoints and ensuring reviews, approvals, and deliverables are completed on time
• Manage store openings, closings, and conversion kits, including warehousing, fulfillment, inventory management, and ship notifications
• Lead the sourcing, quotes, and negotiations with vendors for print, signage and other in-store marketing seasonal materials
• Oversee procurement of all POS/POP materials, negotiating contracts, and ensuring vendor accountability for on-time delivery 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 rollouts and retail initiatives through detailed project and production planning

Benefits

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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees