Senior Lead Graphic / Production Artist

SCANDICAL Senior Lead Graphic / Production Artist – Souvenir Product Design Adobe Illustrator • Photoshop • AI-Assisted Workflow • Team Leadership • India-Based Temporary / Contract Position with Opportunity to Become a Long-Term Permanent Leadership Role Permanent Position Compensation Range: ₹10–14 Lakh Per Annum, Depending on Experience and Demonstrated Leadership Ability About Scandical & the Opportunity Scandical is a U.S.-based manufacturer and wholesaler of souvenir and novelty products sold to retailers in high-traffic tourist destinations throughout the United States and Caribbean. We are expanding into new imported souvenir product categories and expect this expansion to require a significant volume of new artwork. We are seeking an experienced Senior Lead Graphic / Production Artist based in India who can initially work directly with Scandical while helping us build and develop a new India-based production-art team. This is more than a senior designer position. We are looking for someone who can combine strong hands-on design and production-art skills with leadership, hiring, training and quality-control abilities. The position will initially be temporary/contract-based. For the right individual, there is an opportunity to develop into a long-term permanent leadership position with anticipated compensation of ₹10–14 lakh per annum, depending on experience and demonstrated leadership ability. Your Role The Senior Lead Artist will initially work directly on Scandical product-development projects while helping establish the standards, processes and team needed to support our expanding product lines. As the team develops, responsibilities will increasingly include: • Help identify, interview and evaluate additional graphic/production artists. • Participate in hiring recommendations and candidate selection. • Train and develop new artists. • Assign and coordinate artwork projects. • Establish consistent production-art standards. • Review artwork created by members of the team before submission to Scandical. • Identify errors and return clear corrections, direction and coaching to staff. • Monitor quality, accuracy and productivity. • Help develop efficient workflows using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and AI-assisted creative tools. • Remain hands-on and capable of completing important or challenging artwork personally. What You Will Be Designing • Destination-specific souvenir artwork for U.S. and Caribbean tourist locations. • Molded and printed products requiring customized location names or “location drops.” • Magnets, key rings, drinkware and other gift and souvenir products. • Master designs that can be adapted efficiently across many destinations. • Artwork incorporating recognizable landmarks, typography, icons, colors and regional imagery. • Production-ready artwork for manufacturing. Senior-Level Design & Production Requirements This position requires someone who understands that attractive artwork must also be accurate, organized, editable and ready for production. • Advanced Adobe Illustrator skills, including vector artwork and production-ready file preparation. • Advanced Adobe Photoshop skills, including image editing, compositing, color correction and manipulation. • Strong typography and commercial layout skills. • Ability to create master artwork that can efficiently support multiple variations. • Ability to prepare organized, editable production files. • Ability to review other artists’ Illustrator and Photoshop files. • Ability to identify production errors, inconsistencies and quality problems. • Ability to maintain visual consistency across large product collections. • Ability to work efficiently within templates, specifications and established product formats. AI-Assisted Creative Workflow Experience incorporating AI into a professional creative workflow is strongly preferred. We are interested in a leader who understands how AI can improve the productivity of an art department while maintaining professional design and production standards. AI should support the creative process—not replace professional design judgment. Final artwork must be professionally refined and prepared in Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop. • Accelerate concept development and visual exploration. • Explore destination-specific ideas. • Generate or enhance visual elements. • Develop creative variations. • Improve production efficiency. • Teach team members how to use AI tools appropriately and efficiently. Preferred workflow: AI concept generation → Photoshop editing/compositing → Illustrator/vector production → location drops → quality control → production-ready files. Team Building & Hiring An important part of this position will be helping Scandical build its India-based art team. Previous experience hiring or helping build a creative/production team is strongly preferred. • Review portfolios and applications. • Interview potential artists. • Evaluate paid test assignments. • Assess Illustrator and Photoshop competency. • Evaluate speed, accuracy and attention to detail. • Make hiring recommendations. • Identify candidates who can be trained and developed. • Help determine individual strengths and appropriate responsibilities. Training & Staff Development Our objective is to create a team that becomes faster, stronger and more independent over time. • Train new employees on Scandical artwork standards. • Teach production workflows. • Develop templates and procedures. • Provide constructive feedback and coach junior artists. • Establish consistent file-organization standards. • Teach efficient location-drop production. • Help artists improve their use of Illustrator, Photoshop and AI. • Develop a team capable of producing accurate work with progressively less supervision. Quality Control Quality control will be a major responsibility. The Senior Lead Artist will become the first level of quality control for the India team before artwork is submitted to Scandical. • Design quality and accuracy. • Typography, spelling and correct location names. • Image quality, color and visual consistency. • Correct product dimensions and templates. • Illustrator/vector construction. • Photoshop image quality. • Layer and file organization. • Production readiness and compliance with project instructions. Final File & Asset Management The Senior Lead Artist will be responsible for making sure completed projects reach Scandical as complete, usable production packages—not simply individual artwork files. • Verify approved artwork is properly packaged, named and organized. • Confirm required linked assets are included and accessible. • Ensure production files and proofs are uploaded to Scandical-designated cloud storage. • Maintain consistent folder and version-control standards. • Ensure Scandical retains organized access to final master artwork and production assets. Ideal Candidate • Significant professional graphic-design or production-art experience. • Advanced Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop skills. • Experience supervising or leading other designers. • Experience reviewing and correcting other artists’ work. • Hiring or interviewing experience. • Experience training or mentoring junior artists. • Strong organizational skills and excellent attention to detail. • Good written and spoken English communication skills. • Experience managing multiple projects and deadlines. • Commercial-product, souvenir, gift, packaging, print, apparel or promotional-product experience. • Experience with AI-assisted creative tools. • A hands-on leadership style. Initial Temporary Position / Long-Term Opportunity For an exceptional candidate, the position could transition into a long-term permanent Senior Lead Artist position with responsibility for helping manage and develop Scandical’s India-based art department and anticipated annual compensation of ₹10–14 lakh, depending on experience and demonstrated leadership ability. During the Initial Period, We Will Evaluate • Design and production-art ability. • Leadership ability and communication. • Quality-control skills. • Hiring judgment. • Ability to train and develop artists. • Organization and reliability. • Understanding of Scandical products and production requirements. • Ability to improve the productivity and quality of the overall team. How We Will Select the Senior Lead Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a test assignment that includes both an artwork component and a leadership/quality-control component. 1. Complete or improve a sample souvenir-product design. 2. Create a location variation from a master design. 3. Review a sample production-art file and identify errors or improvements. 4. Explain how you would give feedback to the artist responsible for the work. 5. Describe how you would evaluate and train a junior production artist. When Applying, Please Include • Your portfolio and examples of advanced Illustrator and Photoshop work. • Your years of professional design experience. • Your previous leadership or supervisory experience and number of artists supervised, if applicable. • Your experience interviewing or hiring graphic artists. • Your experience training or mentoring junior artists. • Your experience reviewing and approving other artists’ work. • Examples of how you currently use AI in your creative workflow and the AI tools you use. • Your current location in India. • Your availability. • Your expected hourly rate for the initial temporary/contract position. • Your compensation expectations within the ₹10–14 lakh annual range if the position develops into a permanent full-time opportunity. • A brief explanation of how you would approach building and developing a small production-art team from the ground up. Compensation The position will begin as a paid temporary/contract engagement. Expected Permanent Compensation: ₹10–14 Lakh Per Annum Final compensation will depend on professional experience, production-art expertise, demonstrated leadership ability, hiring and training experience, and performance during the initial engagement. Important This is not primarily a social-media graphic-design position. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on creative leader with strong Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop skills who understands commercial production artwork, staff development and quality control. The right candidate will not only produce excellent artwork personally—they will help us hire, train and develop a team capable of consistently producing excellent work.