Director of Packaging & Innovation, Target

About Twelve
Twelve designs and builds the world’s most inspiring merchandise and packaging for the world’s most coveted brands. Applying our uniquely tested end-to-end methodology, we seamlessly integrate our expert teams and global supply chain to turn wild dreams into high-return realities. Our difference lies in our approach to partnership and our commitment to social responsibility—proudly B-Corp certified and working exclusively with vetted and approved partners.

Job Summary: 

We’re looking for a Director, Target Product & Packaging Innovation to lead the intersection of creativity, development, and execution for a key strategic retail account (Target). This role is the red thread across innovation, design, development, and costing—ensuring ideas are not only compelling, but buildable, scalable, and commercially viable.

This is not a passive oversight role. You will actively shape concepts, pressure-test feasibility, and drive alignment across internal teams and overseas partners to bring differentiated product and packaging solutions to life—while elevating how those ideas are presented and sold to the client.

Key Responsibilities:

Innovation Leadership

Drive forward-thinking innovative concepts that align with Target’s brand, customer, and seasonal strategies across categories and departments

Translate trends, materials, and manufacturing capabilities into actionable innovation pipelines

Push beyond incremental improvements—bring ideas that are distinct, ownable, and retail-relevant

Lead and create the vision, category strategy, and critical path planning aligned with Twelve’s and Targets goals and growth targets

Creative Direction & Development

Act as a creative visionary, not just a reviewer—partner closely with design and development teams to evolve ideas from concept through production

Ensure creative integrity holds through development, cost value engineering, and production constraints

Balance aesthetic ambition with real-world execution

Client Impact & Concept Selling

Lead and deliver client presentations with a strong point of view and narrative across client executive teams

Elevate how concepts are designed, packaged, and presented to spark excitement and buy-in from Target buyers

Translate creative ideas into compelling storytelling that connect design, function, and commercial value to the Target DNA

Proactively bring ideas to the client and create whitespace opportunity

Create products with high sell thru value

Construction & Feasibility

Oversee structural packaging development concepts with a strong understanding of materials, dielines, and manufacturing processes

Guide teams toward smart product construction that delivers on both design intent and cost targets

Challenge assumptions and push for smarter, more efficient builds and forward thinking concepts

Costing & Commercial Viability

Lead with Sales Management team members to ensure concepts meet margin and pricing targets from the outset

Lead value engineering efforts without compromising the core creative idea

Understand trade-offs and make decisions that balance design, quality, and cost

Create products that sell within whitespace niche categories

Qualifications

8–12+ years in packaging, product development, and/or trend forecasting within retail, agency environments

Strong creative instincts with the ability to actively contribute to concept development

Proven ability to present and sell ideas to retail buyers or senior stakeholders

Deep understanding of packaging construction, product categories, development, and production processes

Experience working with overseas manufacturing partners

Strong commercial acumen—comfortable navigating costing, margins, selling and trade-offs

Ability to operate in a fast-paced, high-expectation client environment

What you can expect:

Full-Time Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Life)

Mental Health Mondays: once a month our offices close globally (that's 12 additional days per year)

Generous Paid Time Off – Including your birthday, personal days, time-off around holidays.

Paid Parental Leave

Summer Fridays

Discretionary bonuses

Salary: $130-$150k depending on experience

Twelve Inc. is committed to building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and everyone is encouraged to apply. It is the policy of the Company to prohibit discrimination of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, alienage or citizenship status, disability, or handicap, marital status, familial status, veteran status, sexual orientation, arrest record, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.