Menswear Print Designer - Next Sourcing in Leicester

Working Pattern: Typically 5 days in the office, with core hours flexible between 8am-6pm.

The Role

Next Sourcing is seeking a creative powerhouse to join our in-house global design hub. We are looking for a Menswear Print Designer who lives at the intersection of high-fashion textile innovation and commercial viability. As our Print Designer, you will be the creative force behind the surface patterns, all-over prints (AOPs), and textile directions that define our menswear collections. You will capture the perfect balance of street-influenced aesthetic, geometric precision, and elevated casual style to create patterns that are as commercially successful as they are trend-setting.

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 Innovative Menswear Prints: Create compelling, original surface patterns, repeat layouts, all-over prints (AOPs), checks, and stripes across various menswear categories including shirts, jersey, swim, and loungewear.
• Translate Global Textile Trends: Continually research and filter high level menswear print, pattern, and colour trends into "must-have" commercial textile concepts relevant to the NEXT customer.
• Inspirational & Development Travel: Embark on seasonal trips to key global cities for trend inspiration, as well as visiting our international fabric mills and printers to oversee strike-offs, print execution, and base-cloth development.
• Drive Rapid Design Cycles: Respond quickly to fast-turnaround print briefs with high energy and precision, producing seamless repeat tiles, accurate CADs, and production ready artwork without sacrificing creative edge.
• Master Print Production Techniques: Design intelligently with a deep knowledge of print processes (e.g., rotary, digital, screen print, sublimation) and how prints react to different fabrics and garment washes, ensuring a premium feel at a competitive price point.
• Partner with Global Teams: Collaborate daily with Menswear Garment Designers, Buyers, and Sourcing Specialists to ensure prints seamlessly align with clothing silhouettes, fabrications, scale, and overall range plans.
• Ensure Tech-Pack Accuracy: Deliver clean, colour-separated, production-ready artwork files and highly detailed print specification packs (including pantone references and repeat dimensions) to international factories to ensure exact execution.

What You’ll Bring

• Menswear Print Design Expertise: A strong background specifically in commercial menswear print and textile design, showcasing excellent repeat pattern capabilities, a sharp eye for colour curation, and versatility in style (from conversational to abstract).
• Design Software Mastery: Expert-level proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop is essential for creating high quality visual renders, precise print layouts, and seamless repeat files (experience with specialised textile software is a plus).
• Fabric & Production Knowledge: A solid technical understanding of print execution across different textile bases (woven, knit, synthetic, cotton) and how fabric weights and finishes impact final print clarity and colour fastness.
• Industry Background: Experience working within a large-scale retailer or a high volume supplier, giving you a realistic understanding of the speed, scale, and calendar structure at which we operate.
• Team-First Mentality: Strong interpersonal skills and a genuine love for collaboration. You know how to build rapport and pitch print concepts to buyers, garment designers, and overseas factory partners alike.
• Resilience in Busy Moments: Excellent organisational skills to remain level headed when deadlines tighten, managing multiple print drops and fast track capsules simultaneously without losing attention to detail.
• Proactive Curiosity: A genuine passion for contemporary menswear, street culture, art, and textile innovation, always seeking out new print execution techniques or sustainable ink alternatives.

Portfolios

To help us get a feel for your style, please attach a digital portfolio to your application. We are looking for work that demonstrates a sharp eye for the future of Menswear, how your ideas can be commercially viable for NEXT, and showcases your direct design and CAD work. 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. 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.