Structural Designer

Structural Designer
One Allied Way Manchester, CT
A great start to a printing career!
Are you a structural design expert who understands how creativity, engineering, and print production come together? We’re looking for a highly skilled Structural Designer with deep experience in the printing, packaging, corrugated, folding carton, and POP display industry to create innovative structural solutions that perform flawlessly from concept through production. This is an opportunity to work on impactful retail packaging, dimensional print marketing, and point-of-purchase display programs for nationally recognized brands.
Position: Structural Designer
Bring ideas to life through innovative structural design for packaging, point-of-purchase displays, and specialty print products. Combine engineering expertise, creative problem-solving, and production knowledge to develop functional, visually compelling solutions from concept through manufacturing. Partner with clients and cross-functional teams to create designs that enhance brand impact, optimize performance, and drive production efficiency.
What You’ll Do
- Design structural packaging, POP displays, folding cartons, and specialty print solutions from concept to production.
- Create production-ready CAD files, dielines, folding patterns, and assembly structures using industry-standard software.
- Collaborate closely with graphic designers, prepress, sales, estimating, and production teams to ensure seamless execution.
- Engineer packaging solutions that balance structural integrity, visual impact, manufacturability, and cost efficiency.
- Develop white samples, mock-ups, and production prototypes using flatbed sample tables and cutting systems.
- Optimize material usage, substrate selection, and load-bearing performance for shipping and retail environments.
- Ensure graphics align accurately with folds, scores, glue areas, and finishing specifications.
- Support innovation initiatives involving dimensional print marketing, interactive packaging, pop-ups, and specialty structures.
- Troubleshoot structural and production issues during prototyping and manufacturing stages.
- Maintain awareness of emerging trends in sustainable packaging, retail display design, and engineered paperboard solutions.
High School Diploma or equivalent preferred.
- 3+ years of structural design experience in the printing, packaging, corrugated, or POP display industry.
- Advanced proficiency in:
- ArtiosCAD
- Impact CAD
- Kasemake
- Adobe Illustrator
- Esko DeskPack or similar packaging workflow tools
- Hands-on experience operating CAM sample tables such as:
- Kongsberg
- Zünd
- Strong understanding of:
- Folding carton construction
- Corrugated engineering
- Packaging weight distribution
- Structural load-bearing calculations
- Retail display assembly
- Experience creating prototypes, white samples, and production-ready packaging solutions.
- Knowledge of print production processes, finishing methods, die-cutting, gluing, and converting.
- Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills across creative and production teams.
- Experience in the following fields encouraged to apply: Structural Packaging Design, POP Display Design, Packaging Engineering, Industrial Design, Mechanical or Materials Engineering, Retail Display Manufacturing, Dimensional Print Marketing
Physical Requirements
Sitting 70% | Walking 10% | Standing 20%. Occasional lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling of samples, packaging materials, and prototypes weighing up to 25 pounds.
The Details
Job Type: Full Time
Shifts Available: 1st shift 8:00am-4:00pm.
Why You’ll Love Working Here
You’ll join a supportive team that values innovation, teamwork, and growth. We’re proud of our history but even more excited about the future — and we’re looking for motivated people like you to help us get there. If you meet our minimum qualifications and are eager to thrive in a fast-paced, growing environment, we invite you to become part of our team. This is an excellent opportunity to build your career with a company that combines decades of expertise with a commitment to innovation and exceptional service.
Great Benefits:
Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Disability, 401(k), 401(k) match, Employee Assistance Program, Voluntary Benefits: Critical, Accident, Hospital Indemnity, Paid Time Off: Vacation, Sick, Holiday, 2nd (12%) & 3rd (15%) shift differentials, Paid Weekly, Growth Opportunities, Employee Referral Bonus, Work-Life Balance, Great Company Culture.
Allied Printing Services is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants and employees are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, disability, military or veterans' status or any other legally protected status or basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Allied Printing Services prohibits harassment of applicants and employees based on these protected categories. If you need an accommodation to apply, please let us know.