Accessories College Art Team Lead

Under the direction of the Art Manager, the College Accessory Production Art Team Lead trains and supports new and existing Production Artists responsible for college accessory artwork. You'll teach Lakeshirts standards, demonstrate production-art workflows, monitor progress, and adjust training so artists can prepare accurate, production-ready artwork with confidence.

This is a hands-on leadership role for an organized, detail-driven production artist who can balance people leadership with daily execution. You'll use Adobe Illustrator, production reports, and work orders to assign work, support artists, maintain standards, and help the department hit quality and delivery goals in a fast-paced creative environment.

• Perform College Accessory Production Artist responsibilities proficiently and model established quality standards, university brand-guideline compliance, and production-art best practices.
• Attend daily production huddles, review production reports and work orders, set priorities, and assign or reassign work so collegiate artwork deadlines and daily goals are met.
• Train and coach artists on job responsibilities, safety practices, company policies, systems, department standards, and collegiate licensing requirements.
• Work closely with artists to answer questions, remove roadblocks, and communicate changes to university artwork standards, licensing requirements, or production priorities.
• Partner with Quality Control, the Art Manager, Licensing, and other leads to resolve artwork issues, ensure brand-standard compliance, address inconsistencies, and improve processes.
• Conduct regular team check-ins and support employee attendance, development, quarterly reviews, and annual compensation-review processes.
• Balance team leadership with hands-on production-art execution while ensuring college accessory artwork meets university trademark, licensing, and production standards.

• Two- or four-year degree in Graphic Design preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant production-art experience.
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator required, with the ability to perform and review production-ready college accessory artwork accurately.
• Knowledge of collegiate licensing requirements, university brand standards, trademarks, and logo-usage guidelines preferred.
• Leadership training or prior coaching experience preferred, with the ability to guide, motivate, and hold a team accountable.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and independent decision-making skills with sound judgment.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with artists, leads, Quality Control, Licensing, and the Art Manager.
• Reliable, flexible, and able to manage multiple priorities, interruptions, deadlines, and follow-through in a fast-paced environment.

At Lakeshirts, we believe in making work as awesome as the apparel we create. We're not just a t-shirt company- we're also a hat, sticker, and sock company (and so much more!). We're a place where creativity meets culture, where ideas and innovation are encouraged, and where the atmosphere is truly one-of-a-kind. As one of the largest screenprinting manufacturers in the U.S., we decorate a variety of garments and accessories for the resort, licensed collegiate, and K-12 markets, supported by over 1,000 ah-mazing team members from sea to shining sea.

Employee must be able to see and hear, read and write. Requires adaptability, analyzing, assessing, calculating, decision making, dependability, judgment, reading, speaking, following direction, handling multiple priorities, reasoning.

CONTINUOUSLY: Sit, walk, stand

FREQUENTLY: Lift/carry under 10 lbs., lift/carry 10-24 lbs., reach above, at, and below shoulder height, use hands for keyboarding, mouse work, and detailed artwork review

OCCASIONALLY: Lift/carry 25-50 lbs., push, pull, bend, twist, reach

NEVER: Lift/carry over 50 lbs., climb, balance, crawl

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and should in no way be considered a contract or guarantee of employment. Employee may perform other related duties as needed based on the ongoing needs of the business. Minnesota is an Employment-At-Will state and implies no specific length of employment.