Design full womenswear footwear and bag collections, translating global trends into commercial products. Create CAD concepts, material swatches, and factory-ready specifications while balancing style, cost, and quality. Collaborate with buying, merchandising, and international manufacturing teams, manage prototypes and critical paths, and ensure products progress from concept through final production. Seasonal trend and factory travel is required, along with a digital portfolio.
Working Pattern: Typically 5 days a week onsite with core flexible hours between 8am to 6pm
Next Sourcing are looking for a trend driven experienced Womenswear Footwear & Bags Designer, looking to push our Womenswear Footwear & Bags designs!
We’re so much more than just a British retailer. From Istanbul to Shanghai, our Sourcing teams live and work in some of the most iconic cities in the world.
They're at the heart of finding, developing and delivering the products our customers love, wear and use every day. Located across the globe, our Next Sourcing teams specialise in all different parts of the sourcing operation, from design and technology to product development.
What You’ll Take On
- Design Full Women’s Footwear & Bag Ranges: Create cohesive, multi category collections spanning heels, flats, boots, casual trainers, totes, cross-body bags, and evening clutches tailored to the NEXT customer.
- Translate Global Trends: Conduct continuous trend research across runway shows, global street style, and material innovations to identify key seasonal colours, silhouettes, hardware, and fabrications.
- Inspirational & Development Travel: Embark on seasonal trend trips to fashion capitals for inspiration, and travel to international factories to collaborate directly on prototyping and material sourcing.
- Drive Rapid Design Cycles: Respond quickly to fast turnaround briefs, producing detailed CAD concepts, material swatches, and design specs at high energy and speed.
- Balance Style, Cost, and Quality: Select the right leathers, synthetics, textiles, and hardware to achieve a premium aesthetic and high standard of durability while adhering to target price points.
- Partner with Global Teams: Work daily alongside UK Buying and Merchandising teams to align on product strategy, while coordinating with overseas technical factories to ensure accurate execution of design specs.
- Manage Critical Paths: Track and manage product lifecycles to ensure sample delivery stays on schedule, from initial sketch approval through to final production.
What You’ll Bring
- Product & Construction Knowledge: A deep understanding of footwear lasts, bag structures, pattern making, hardware, and material behavior across both synthetic and genuine leathers.
- Commercial Vision: A sharp commercial eye capable of translating high fashion trends into wearable, high volume products for the high street.
- Technical CAD Proficiency: Advanced skills in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to produce clear, accurate tech packs and factory ready CAD specs.
- Agility & Pace: Excellent time management and organisational skills, with a proven track record of managing multi category seasonal deadlines in a fast paced environment.
- Collaboration & Communication: Strong interpersonal skills to present design ideas confidently to commercial teams and communicate clearly with international manufacturing partners.
Portfolios
To help us get a feel for your style, please attach a digital portfolio to your application. To help you put your best foot forward, we’ve put together a few top tips on what makes a portfolio stand out to our team.
Applications without a portfolio will not be considered.
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.
At NEXT, we believe the best work happens when there are no barriers to collaboration. That’s why we are a Google-powered workspace. From your very first day, you’ll be using the full Google Workspace suite; Docs, Drive, and Meet, to stay connected and move fast.
If your previous experience is rooted in other software suites, don’t worry! We’ll point you to a digital Google toolkit the moment you join, packed with handy guides and insider tips to help you transition smoothly and hit the ground running.
#LI-Onsite
About UsYou know Next, but did you know we’re a FTSE-100 retail company employing over 44,000 people across the Next group. We’re the UK’s 2nd largest fashion retailer and for Kidswear we’re the market leader. At the last count we have over 450 stores, plus the Next Online and it’s now possible to buy on-line from over 80 countries around the world! So we’ve gone global! About the Team- 25% off most NEXT, MADE*, Lipsy*, Gap* and Victoria's Secret* products (*when purchased through NEXT)
- Company performance based bonus
- Sharesave scheme
- On-site Nursery available; OFSTED outstanding in all areas
- 10% off most partner brands & up to 15% off Branded Beauty
- Early VIP access to sale stock
- Access to fantastic discounts at our Staff Shops
- Restaurants with great food at amazing prices
- Access a digital GP and other free health and wellbeing services
- Free on-site parking
- Financial Wellbeing - Save, track and enhance your financial wellbeing
- Apprenticeship - Grow and develop on the job whilst gaining a qualification
- Direct to Work - Discount online and instore, collect your items the next day for free from your place of work or local store
- Support Networks - Access to Network Groups to empower and celebrate each other
- Wellhub - Discounted flexible monthly gym memberships, with apps, PT sessions and more
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 [email protected] (please include 'Workplace Adjustments' in the subject line), or call us on 0116 284 2486 and leave a voicemail.
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