Sr Packaging Designer

Mattel•El Segundo, CA

About The Position

Mattel is seeking a Sr. Packaging designer to help define and lead the visual future of new Venture brands. This role is broader than packaging execution: it is responsible for establishing the brand visual identity systems that bring new ideas to life across packaging, digital, e-commerce, retail, marketing, presentations, and other consumer touchpoints. The ideal candidate is a highly experienced creative leader with exceptional taste, strong visual judgment, and a proven ability to translate strategy, consumer insight, and business ambition into distinctive, premium, scalable design systems. This person will create and steward brand guidelines and styleguides, lead design exploration from concept through production, and build persuasive executive-level presentations that clearly communicate a brand vision and the rationale behind it. This leader must be fluent in modern creative workflows, including the practical use of AI tools for ideation, visualization, storytelling, workflow acceleration, and design exploration. They will manage internal and external resources, partner closely with cross-functional teams, and guide illustrators, photographers, retouchers, vendors, and global partners to deliver work that meets a high creative bar.

Requirements

3-5+ years of progressive experience in packaging design, graphic design or related design roles, ideally across consumer products, entertainment, lifestyle, toy, fashion, beauty, tech, or culturally relevant brands.
Team player (ability to work with immediate team members and cross functional partners)
Ability to accept and give creative direction
Up to date on current trends: graphics, advertising, fashion, technology, entertainment, social, etc.
A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional taste, visual sophistication, range, strong packaging craft, and the ability to create distinctive design systems from the ground up.
Experience establishing packaging brand guidelines, styleguides.
Experience in packaging design from concept through production, including structure, graphics, hierarchy, typography, color, materials, finishes, retail impact, and manufacturing considerations.
Demonstrated familiarity with AI-enabled creative tools and workflows, with the judgment to use them responsibly, efficiently, and in service of stronger creative outcomes.
Ability to prioritize and handle multiple projects with different delivery dates simultaneously, in order to meet tight deadlines
Excellent communication and organizational skills
Excellent presentation skills with the ability to articulate design and vision
Experience managing external partners, freelance specialists, and global production partners.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, presentation tools, and modern design workflows; familiarity with 3D visualization, rendering, prototyping, and AI image/concept generation tools is strongly preferred.
Self-directed, proactive, and comfortable working through ambiguity in a fast-paced innovation environment with multiple parallel-path projects.

Nice To Haves

Experience launching new brands, sub-brands, or franchise extensions from early strategy through consumer-facing execution.
Experience in toys, entertainment, licensed IP, consumer products, or youth/family lifestyle categories.
Experience developing omnichannel brand assets for retail, e-commerce, social, digital, and presentation environments.
Experience working with overseas partners and managing creative quality through production and commercialization.

Responsibilities

The primary role is the creation of breakthrough brand visual identities for new Mattel Venture toy packaging from concept through production.
Help Build brand guidelines, styleguides, visual toolkits, and design systems that clarify brand codes, graphic language, typography, color, photography/illustration direction, and packaging principles
Partner on packaging strategy, concept development, and design execution from early exploration through production, ensuring the work is strategically grounded, emotionally resonant, and visually distinctive.
Translate insights, raw concepts, and business strategy into clear creative narratives that secure alignment and buy-in from cross-functional partners and executive stakeholders.
Create high-quality presentations, concept boards, visual frameworks, and storytelling materials that communicate design vision with clarity, taste, and strategic intent.
Use AI tools thoughtfully and effectively to accelerate ideation, mood development, visualization, concept iteration, presentation development, and creative workflow efficiency.
Set and maintain a high creative bar for design taste, craft, and consistency
Partner with and direct, internal development designers and cross-functional creative contributors while effectively briefing and art directing external illustrators, photographers and vendors.
Partner with product design, marketing, insights, structural engineering, program management, legal, licensing, e-commerce, and global teams to ensure packaging and graphic assets deliver on strategy and can be executed at scale.
Balance creative ambition with cost, schedule, manufacturing, and retail realities.
Advocate for the consumer and the brand, ensuring final creative work is compelling, ownable, understandable, and aligned with key business objectives.
Successfully present and defend creative concepts to cross-functional teams, senior leadership, and executive management.