About the Role:
We are looking for a Design Manager to lead our ever growing Next Sourcing Childrenswear design department. This is a rare opportunity and one not to be missed. You will be inspiring a team of fantastic designers and leading the trend direction, design initiative and growth for this multi-product category.
Reporting into the Product Director, the position of Design Manager will have responsibility for the recruitment and growth of the Childrenswear Design team, focusing on multi-product ranges:
You will oversee the ongoing development of the team, managing and inspiring a team of Designers and Assistants. You will support them in their day-to-day roles while providing input and advice on the strategic direction of their ranges.
Trend and Creative Direction: Having a great design vision and awareness of changing market trends, identify and clearly communicate new, growing and declining trends with support of the wider design team.
Team Leadership: Effectively communicating the company vision and direction with clear goals and expectations, keeping the team highly motivated and inspired to contribute their best. Creating a positive environment through recognition and constructive feedback where openness is encouraged.
Communication: Understanding the need for strong and effective communication, building and maintaining relationships with your immediate team as well as collaborating with other key stakeholders across the Next Sourcing Childrenswear category.
Travel: Travel will feature heavily in this role with visits to global trade shows, inspirational trips and factory visits.
The Childrenswear team at Next Sourcing are passionate about what they do and have a wealth of experience. By joining this team, you'll have the chance to grow, make an impact, and shape the direction. With such a broad range of products to cover, every day brings something new and exciting, keeping things fresh and full of opportunity.
About You:
Having excellent communication skills and the ability to influence within the wider team; you will have the chance to really take this role to the next level. Working within the design sector with excellent knowledge of trends, you will be forward thinking and confident in communicating across all levels. You will be looking for that next step in your career development, ready to take on new challenges. You will be organised with excellent time management. You will be passionate about Childrenswear and have exciting ideas of how to push this department forward. A team player with excellent people skills is a must, inspiring you to lead a team of talented designers across a wealth of product areas.
Sponsorship
Candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship for this role will be required to meet the Home Office sponsorship requirements. For further information please see: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.
We encourage early applications for our roles, as our recruitment process begins as soon as the role is advertised. If we successfully fill the position, this advert may close earlier than planned.
You know Next, but did you know we’re a FTSE-100 retail company employing over 35,000 people across the UK and Ireland. We’re the UK’s 2nd largest fashion retailer and for Kidswear we’re the market leader. At the last count we have over 500 stores, plus the Next Online and it’s now possible to buy on-line from over 70 countries around the world! So we’ve gone global!
Conditions apply to all benefits. These benefits are discretionary and subject to change.
We aim to support all candidates during the application process and are happy to provide workplace adjustments when necessary. Should you need support with your application due to a disability or long-term condition, feel free to get in touch with us by email headoffice_careers@next.co.uk (please include 'Workplace Adjustments' in the subject line), or call us on 0116 284 2486 and leave a voicemail.
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