Senior Trail & Extrem Apparel Designer

We’re Pentland Brands: a global family business behind some of the world’s most iconic active and lifestyle brands. We bring integrity, energy and ambition to our work, setting high standards and striving to deliver great outcomes without ego. With over 1,500 team members worldwide, we’re proud of our diverse, inclusive culture where everyone is encouraged to speak up, challenge thinking, create breakthroughs and collaborate openly. Our people are what set us apart, and we’re committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

Reports to: VP Design (Berghaus)
Location: Farringdon, London
Hours: 36.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday (4.30pm finish on a Friday)

The Senior Apparel Designer's Mission: The Senior Apparel Designer – Trail & Extrem is a pivotal member of the Product Creation team, responsible for driving the technical fit, construction quality, and performance functionality of our trail apparel range. This role blends deep technical expertise with outdoor-specific knowledge to ensure every garment is built to perform across challenging terrain and changing conditions. The mission is to lead the technical development of trail products—from fit and block creation to construction refinement—delivering apparel that meets rigorous performance expectations, aligns with brand standards, and exceeds the needs of trail runners, hikers, and outdoor athletes.

How you'll drive success:

• Leading design development across Trail & Extrem categories, ensuring product solutions are consumer-centred, functional, and on-brand.
• Framing and solving key product “problem spaces” (e.g., movement, comfort, protection, thermal regulation, durability, packability) and translating these into clear design direction.
• Partnering closely with Product Managers to define briefs, success measures, and design principles that guide decision-making through the range.
• Working collaboratively with Technical, Development, QA and global vendors to deliver manufacturable solutions—balancing performance, quality, cost, and scalability.
• Driving fit, construction, and technical development where needed: establishing or evolving fit blocks, advising grading rules, and ensuring consistent fit outcomes across the range.
• Conducting fit sessions on live models or mannequins; analysing movement and wear; and guiding pattern/construction refinements through iterative sampling.
• Creating and maintaining detailed technical packs, specifications, construction guidance, BOM components, and accurate PLM data.
• Evaluating materials and trims for performance (ventilation, thermoregulation, stretch, abrasion resistance) and advising on suitability and trade-offs.
• Reviewing prototypes and salesperson samples; providing advanced input on seam placement, construction methods, and functional detailing to improve comfort and durability.
• Supporting wear testing and feedback loops by interpreting insights and converting them into concrete design improvements.
• Driving consistency and best-practice standards across the Trail & Extrem range, mentoring junior team members where required.

What you'll need to thrive:

• You have a degree in relevant design fields (Fashion, Product/Industrial Design, Sport, Engineering Design, or equivalent experience), with a minimum of 5–7 years’ experience in a professional environment.
• Strong evidence of consumer-led problem solving: you can turn insight into clear product intent, and intent into a coherent design solution.
• Strong understanding of human movement, usability, and performance-led construction principles (this may come from apparel or adjacent industries).
• Experience taking products from concept through development to production, with strong attention to detail and a “design it so it can be made” mindset.
• Ability to work fluently with manufacturers and vendors, confidently navigating sampling, iteration, and trade-offs across performance, quality, and cost.
• Technical fluency in product creation: fit, pattern/construction understanding, or equivalent design-for-manufacture capability (depending on background).
• Proficiency in Adobe CC; CLO3D or similar is preferred; PLM systems experience is a plus.
• Materials curiosity and confidence: performance textiles, trims, seam technologies, bonding, zonal construction, and ventilation methods (or transferable equivalents from adjacent categories).
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, with experience working alongside Design, Development, Sourcing, and QA teams.
• Passionate about sustainability and experience (or clear interest) in implementing environmentally responsible design/material strategies.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail and an ability to manage multiple deadlines across complex product ranges.
• Proven people management and coaching/mentoring skills.
• A strong interest in performance product is valuable—but we do not require a pure outdoor/apparel-only background. We welcome candidates from parallel industries where performance, usability, and manufacturability matter.

Alongside a competitive salary and discretionary bonus, we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, flexibility, and life outside work. This includes generous holiday allowance with the option to buy more, hybrid and flexible working, enhanced family leave, pension and financial protection, wellbeing support, travel schemes, and generous discounts across Pentland Brands and selected retail partners.

The Interview Process: We want our interview process to feel clear, straightforward, and supportive. If your experience and expectations look like a strong match for the role, here’s what you can expect next:

• Talent Team Intro Call - A 30-minute video call with our Talent Team to get to know each other, talk through the role and your experience, and answer any questions you have.
• Experience Interview - A more in-depth interview (usually online) with the hiring manager to explore your skills, experience and approach, and how these align with the role, our principles, and our ways of working.
• Final Interview - A final in-person interview at our office, focused on deeper discussion and practical application, giving you the chance to meet more of the team and see Pentland Brands in action.