Senior Design Manager - Jersey - 12 Month Fixed Term Contract / Secondment in Welwyn Garden City

We are looking for an experienced senior designer/ design manager to join our Womenswear design team for a maternity cover fixed term contract role on womenswear Jersey reporting into the head of design. Experience working on jersey in high street brands or suppliers producing for the high street is essential.

We are looking for someone with a great eye for detail and a strong creative handwriting, with a proven track record of developing commercially successful product. You will be a strong influencer and be great at taking team members and managers with you on the creative journey. Having a clear and logical approach to moving forward the department's creative strategy with seasonal presentations to key stakeholders.

You will be responsible for:

• Spotting the latest trends, communicating them with confidence and clarity to the design and buying teams along with any key leadership stakeholders, and translating these into commercial designs that our customers will love.
• Setting the direction for your department and working closely with the wider design and buying teams to create cohesive trend coordination.
• Working closely with your Design, Buying, Merchandising and Technical colleagues to ensure ranges are commercial and balanced.
• Compiling accurate technical brief packs and working closely with your suppliers to achieve 'first sample, right sample'.
• Understanding best and worst lines to influence seasonal strategy and product opportunities.
• Pushing design constraints of costings and fashion ability forward, whilst problem-solving.
• Owning the design critical path and supporting trend, development and production critical paths to ensure business deadlines are met.

You will need:

• Proficiency in designing using Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. PowerPoint and AI software experience is a bonus.
• Comprehensive understanding of garment construction, fabric & printing techniques.
• The ability to create detailed technical brief sheets with excellent attention to detail, to communicate your design vision clearly to your team & supply base.
• A team player with great interpersonal and communication skills, ability to build strong relationships with colleagues and to be able to collaborate.
• Amazing organisational skills. Ability to prioritise and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to manage the whole design and development process from trend research and sample development through to range-building and fits.
• Proven previous experience designing ladies' dresses for the UK market.
• Excellent commercial and market awareness and innovative thinking in research.
• Proven experience producing new and innovative designs to fast-paced deadlines, with a strong hit rate.

What’s in it for you?

We’re all about the little helps. That’s why we make sure our Tesco colleague benefits package takes care of you – both in and out of work. Annual bonus scheme of up to 10% of base salary. Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays). 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave (after 1 year’s service) at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, we also offer 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave. Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing.

About Us

You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we’re all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues.

At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you’re just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we’re here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

We’re proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone’s welcome. That’s why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, click here for more information. And if you’re interested in joining our team but don’t tick every box, don’t let that hold you back from applying.