Artist jobs in Winnipeg, MB

We are OneTEAM Sports Group, Canada’s largest and most trusted provider of sports equipment, branded apparel, and custom accessories. For more than 30 years, our expertise and coast-to-coast infrastructure has been outfitting and supporting athletes, teams, organizations, and communities across the country. To us, sports are a way of life. This belief, and the values that come with it, guide us every day.

We are seeking an experienced Embroidery Digitizer / Production Specialist to create production-ready embroidery files for decorated apparel programs serving schools, universities, athletic programs, teams, clubs, and other institutional customers.

This position is responsible for translating customer logos and artwork into embroidery files that produce consistent, high-quality results on caps, polos, jackets, hoodies, uniforms, performance apparel, and other garments.

The successful candidate understands both the digital side of embroidery digitizing and the physical realities of running embroidery machines. This is not simply an artwork-conversion role; the position requires judgment about stitch structure, density, sequencing, underlay, pull compensation, fabric behavior, and production efficiency.

The Embroidery Digitizer/Production Specialist will work onsite at our “Home Run Sports” location in Winnipeg (20 De la Seigneurie Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3X 0E9). You’ll be at the heart of our production process, turning client designs into finished, high-quality embroidered apparel. Your work literally brings our brand (and our clients’ brands) to life.

Responsibilities

Embroidery Digitizing

• Create and edit production-ready embroidery files, primarily DST.
• Digitize logos, lettering, crests, patches, athletic marks, institutional logos, and other customer artwork.
• Select appropriate stitch types, including satin, fill/tatami, running and specialty stitches.
• Determine stitch direction, density, underlay, sequencing, pull compensation, trims, and tie-ins/tie-offs.
• Optimize designs for different garment types and fabrics.
• Modify artwork when necessary to achieve good embroidery results while maintaining brand integrity.
• Create files appropriate for caps, polos, jackets, hoodies, fleece, performance apparel and other products.
• Maintain accurate design specifications and revisions.

Production Support

• Review completed sew-outs and make necessary digitizing adjustments.
• Troubleshoot issues such as puckering, poor registration, excessive thread breaks, gaps, distortion, excessive density, and inefficient stitching.
• Work closely with embroidery-machine operators and production staff.
• Understand machine limitations, hooping requirements, needle changes, trims, jumps and sequencing.
• Optimize designs for production efficiency without compromising appearance.
• Assist with establishing repeatable embroidery standards for frequently used school and university logos.

Artwork & File Management

• Prepare customer artwork for digitizing.
• Work with vector artwork and common graphic formats.
• Maintain organized libraries of approved logos and embroidery files.
• Follow naming, version-control and file-storage procedures.
• Ensure that only approved artwork and current production files are used.
• Maintain records of revisions and customer-specific specifications.

Customer & Internal Collaboration

• Work with sales, customer service and production teams to determine whether artwork is suitable for embroidery.
• Identify designs that require customer approval or artwork modification.
• Provide realistic recommendations regarding minimum lettering sizes, detail levels, colors and embroidery limitations.
• Communicate technical issues clearly to non-technical staff.
• Help establish realistic expectations with institutional customers.

Qualifications

Essential

• 2+ years of professional embroidery digitizing experience, preferably in a commercial apparel environment.
• Demonstrated ability to produce production-ready embroidery files.
• Strong knowledge of DST and other common embroidery formats.
• Proficiency with professional embroidery-digitizing software such as Wilcom, Pulse, Tajima DG, Hatch or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of satin, fill and running stitches.
• Understanding of stitch density, underlay, pull compensation, sequencing and stitch direction.
• Ability to digitize small lettering and detailed logos appropriately for embroidery.
• Ability to diagnose embroidery problems and modify files accordingly.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Excellent file organization and version-control habits.

Highly Preferred

• Experience operating commercial embroidery machines.
• Experience with multi-head embroidery production.
• Experience embroidering caps and difficult-to-hoop products.
• Experience working with athletic apparel and performance fabrics.
• Experience with school, university, collegiate or team logos.
• Experience preparing artwork in Adobe Illustrator or comparable graphic-design software.
• Experience with large-volume/repeat embroidery programs.
• Understanding of embroidery production costing and stitch-count implications.

Technical Competencies

The successful candidate should be able to independently answer questions such as:

• Should this element be satin or fill?
• What density is appropriate for this fabric?
• Does this lettering need to be enlarged or redesigned?
• Where should the underlay be placed?
• What stitch sequence will minimize distortion?
• How should this design be modified for a cap?
• Why is this design puckering?
• Why are two colors failing to register correctly?
• Is this design too dense for the garment?
• Can this design be made more efficient without reducing quality?
• Does the sew-out accurately represent the intended finished product?

Performance Standards

Success in this position will be measured by:

• Quality and consistency of finished embroidery.
• First-time-right production rate.
• Low rate of embroidery defects and rework.
• Appropriate stitch counts and production efficiency.
• Accuracy of customer logos.
• Turnaround time for digitizing requests.
• Organization and accuracy of production files.
• Ability to solve embroidery problems independently.
• Consistency across repeat orders.

Education

Formal post-secondary education is not required.

Demonstrated professional digitizing experience and a strong portfolio of production embroidery work are more important than a graphic-design or technical diploma.

Working Environment

This position works closely with sales, customer service, artwork, and embroidery production.

The role may involve a combination of computer-based digitizing work and hands-on production support, including reviewing sew-outs and working directly with embroidery equipment.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is someone who can look at a customer logo and immediately understand not only what the artwork looks like, but how it needs to be constructed so that it will sew correctly.

They are detail-oriented, technically minded, patient, and comfortable making practical compromises between visual accuracy, garment characteristics, production speed, and embroidery quality.

OneTEAM Sports Group Inc. offers a competitive hourly wage based upon your level of experience, and benefits for all full-time employees. If you are interested in joining our growing team, please submit your resume to hr@oneteamsports.com

While we appreciate the interest of all applicants, only those under consideration will be contacted for an interview. Thank you for your interest in OneTEAM Sports Group

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Dental care
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Extended health care
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• Vision care

Work Location: In person