Client Services & Production Manager

About Creation Station Printing
Creation Station Printing is a print and promotional products company based in Austin, Texas, with locations in Houston and Dallas. For about 10 years we have produced business cards, flyers, banners, signs, apparel and branded promo items for businesses, from local companies to corporate accounts.

We print in-house and through a network of trusted trade printers and suppliers. Customers order through our online store, by quote and through direct ordering connections, so every order has to land on time, whoever makes it.

The role
You own every order from the moment a customer approves a quote until it is delivered, on time and as promised.

Half the job is leading customer service. You are the person customers trust for order status, realistic timelines and fast fixes. The other half is outsourcing and production coordination. You buy from our vendor network, pass approved artwork from our art team to whoever is printing it, keep every job moving on the production calendar, and catch delays before they reach the customer.

Customer service leadership (about 50%)
You are the main contact for our business customers on every open order, and you lead the customer service team.

Own open orders. Answer customers on status, changes and delivery dates.
Set accurate expectations. At quote and at order, give turnaround and ship dates that production and vendors can actually meet.
Warn before customers ask. When a job slips, tell the customer before the due date, with a new date and a plan.
Quote with judgment. Review and send quotes. When a request is vague or incomplete, pick the right product and options and ask the right questions.
Fix problems fully. Handle misprints, damaged shipments, reprints, refunds and partial refunds, then fix the cause.
Serve corporate accounts. Handle purchase order numbers, approval steps and recurring orders for business customers.
Lead the team. Set daily priorities, keep response times fast in the shared inbox and help desk, coach new staff, and keep our how-to guides current.
Outsourcing and production coordination (about 50%)
You d ---------- where each job gets made, buy it at the right cost, and keep it moving until it ships.

Outsourcing and purchasing
Pick the right vendor. Choose the right trade printer or supplier for each outsourced job, on price, quality, turnaround and shipping, using our vendor list.
Get custom pricing. Request quotes from vendors for jobs our website or vendor sites can't price directly.
Place and confirm orders. Place purchase orders, pass along the print-ready files from our art team, and confirm ship dates.
Chase early. Track every outsourced job to delivery, and follow up with vendors before deadlines, not after.
Check what arrives. Inspect outsourced work on arrival, and handle vendor errors, reprints and credits.
Protect the margin. Buy at or under the cost used in the quote.
Protect confidentiality. Vendor requests carry job specs only, never customer details, and white-label orders ship blind.
Own the vendor list. Keep vendor contacts, pricing and strengths up to date.
Production calendar and order flow
Every order moves through the same stages. Our art team owns the artwork and proofs. You keep each order on the production calendar with a current stage, next step and due date, and move it along as it progresses:

Artwork and proof (art team)
Customer approval
Production, in-house or at a vendor
Finishing and quality check
Shipping, delivery or pickup
Pass artwork between teams. Take approved, print-ready art from the art team and hand it to whoever is printing it, in-house or at a vendor. When a printer flags a problem, such as art too blurry for the ordered size, send it back to the art team with what is needed. You don't design or fix artwork.
Sweep daily. Find anything stuck, late or missing a date, and fix it that day.
Run rush orders. Prioritize rush jobs and balance the in-house production team's workload.
Coordinate delivery. Arrange shipping, local delivery and pickup across Austin, Houston and Dallas.
Run the daily huddle. Meet with production and customer service every day to set priorities.
What success looks like
Success means orders arrive when we said they would, and customers never hear about a problem from anyone but you. The targets below are suggested starting points; adjust them before posting.

What you bring

Must have
3 or more years in print production coordination, print buying or brokering, or promotional products customer service
Working knowledge of print: digital and offset printing, large format and signs, promotional products and apparel
Enough print-file know-how to spot and relay problems, such as art too low in resolution for the print size; you won't design or fix artwork
Experience buying from trade printers or suppliers and holding them to deadlines
Clear, fast writing: most customer and vendor contact is by email and chat
Strong organization: you track dozens of open jobs at once without dropping one
Comfort with web-based tools: order systems, a CRM or help desk, Google Workspace

Nice to have
Experience with trade printers and wholesale suppliers
Promotional products sourcing through ASI or SAGE
HubSpot, WooCommerce or QuickBooks
Experience leading or training a small customer service team
Experience with corporate purchasing: purchase orders, approvals and recurring orders