Senior Clothing Designer – JD Outdoor

Key Duties/Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the design of exclusive and licence brands outdoor clothing and accessories to include men's, women's and kids 
• Working with the Head of Exclusive brand ensuring product ranges are relevant and are positioned clearly within each Outdoor brand
• Often working autonomously, giving trend and design direction for each brand.
• Working across the buying teams and product development team to design and develop relevant commercial, technical designs.
• Taking design responsibility for each allocated range/brand, in order to grow the apparel category
• Responsible for the design of product which achieves target cost and brand positioning.
• Understanding of garment technology including performance fabrics, fit and function.
• Managing and developing the Junior designer, ensuring objectives are managed and contribute to the development of that role
• To be continually aware of market trends and competitor product within the outdoor market place and beyond.  
• Ensure designs are ‘fit for purpose’ using knowledge and experience of designing outdoor/technical product
• Working within the critical path and striving to improve lead times where possible.
• Flexibility working across different brands – whilst maintaining brand DNA
• Working on a number of outdoor technical brands and instrumental in the development of each brand
• Visit stores and other retail on a regular basis to understand the customer and store environment.
• Show a strong understanding of clothing on the high street/online and how outdoor trends have transcended outside of traditional outdoor fascia’s.
• Work in partnership with the graphic designer and the development team to develop ‘best in class’
• Work on detailed tech packs, in order to hand over to the developer to enable factories to produce accurate prototypes and costings.
• Work with the development team on proto’s, ensuring your designs are successfully interpreted into product.
• Knowledge/experience of PLM  and 3D design is an advantage.
• Present designs and trends to the B&M team on a seasonal basis, ensuring designs fulfil the brand and commercial direction.
• Lead design meetings. Lead in colour direction, ensuring ranges are specific in colour direction.
• Working with the web and content team to ensure each brand is positioned correctly and collections are understood for marketing purposes.
• Factory and supplier visits when necessary, including the Far East.
• Attend trade shows and other relevant seminars/conferences.

Skills/Experience/Knowledge needed:

• Must have experience in technical/outdoor /sports clothing design
• Fully experienced in Illustrator
• Fully literate in Microsoft Office: PowerPoint, Word, Excel
• Must be able to work in a fast paced, changing and often challenging environment
• Able to work quickly and effectively whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy.
• Highly organised and methodical.
• Creative thinker and problem solver
• Ability to clearly articulate ideas and explain design decisions to line manager and development team
• Calm under pressure, allowing for multi-tasking across numerous brands at any one time.
• Excellent time management skills
• Self motivated. Using any down-time wisely and planning time carefully.