THE OPPORTUNITY

We’re looking for an experienced and creatively driven Design Lead to lead our Katie Loxton Womenswear category, translating our agreed brand and seasonal creative direction into beautifully designed, commercially successful collections.

This is a hands-on leadership role, combining creative direction, product development and team management. You'll lead the development of our Womenswear offering across clothing, swimwear, beach and resort, knitwear, outerwear, loungewear, scarves and textile-led accessories, ensuring each collection feels cohesive, considered and true to the Katie Loxton brand.

Working closely with the Senior Product Design Manager, Head of Product and Buying teams, you'll turn seasonal concepts into clear category direction and product ranges that meet our creative vision, customer requirements and commercial objectives. You'll remain close to the design process, personally developing hero products and setting the standard for creativity, fabric quality, fit and attention to detail.

Alongside your own design work, you'll lead and develop the category design team, providing creative guidance, technical expertise and clear direction to ensure collections are delivered to the highest standard, on time and to budget.

The role is Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. You’ll enjoy the exciting buzz of our stunning head office in Banbury, Oxfordshire, spending an average of three days a week in the office, with the flexibility to work from home on the remaining days. During key seasonal sign-off periods, you’ll also need to be in the office for full weeks to support collaboration and decision-making.

BEHIND THE BRANDS

We’re a family-run, entrepreneurial company with an exciting pace of life and a bright and friendly team. We are passionate about creating stunning products with a personal touch and innovating our business behind the scenes. We value creativity, collaboration and integrity. 

HOW YOU'LL CONTRIBUTE

Creative Direction & Product Design

• Translate the agreed creative direction from the Creative Director, Head of Product Design and Senior Product Design Manager into inspiring and commercially relevant Womenswear collections.

• Develop seasonal concepts, category direction and range proposals in partnership with Buying, ensuring products reflect the Katie Loxton brand positioning and agreed customer requirements.

• Personally design hero and key products, setting the benchmark for creativity, fabric quality, fit, innovation and attention to detail.

• Identify opportunities for new fabrics, yarns, prints, trims, finishes, knit techniques and personalisation within the agreed seasonal direction.

• Lead colour, print and pattern development, including original artwork, prints, jacquards, intarsia and stitch designs, creating a cohesive colour story across the collection.

• Build and maintain a fabric, yarn and trim library, sourcing new qualities and compositions with suppliers and mills, including more sustainable and certified materials where commercially viable.

• Research Womenswear market trends, competitor activity, colour, print, yarn and fabric developments, sharing relevant insights with the team and applying them to future collections.

• Contribute to Autumn/Winter, Spring/Summer and key gifting collections, ensuring the Womenswear range supports agreed seasonal priorities.

• Prepare and present category concepts, range progress and recommendations at key seasonal milestones, incorporating feedback and escalating decisions outside your delegated authority.

• Brief the wider team on seasonal inspiration, hero products, product stories, fabric and yarn stories and key selling points.

Range Development & Commercial Delivery

• Lead the development and delivery of the Womenswear range in partnership with Buying and Merchandising, working within agreed seasonal direction, range architecture, option plans, size curves, pricing architecture and channel mix.

• Use sales, competitor and customer insights to inform product development, review commercial performance and identify opportunities for future collections.

• Own and maintain the critical path for the category, managing key milestones, dependencies and delivery risks.

• Ensure team members understand and take ownership of their critical-path milestones, encouraging effective self-management and accountability.

• Review and respond to product briefs from Wholesale, Ecommerce, House Accounts, Dropship and the US market, ensuring proposals meet agreed requirements and brand standards.

• Support the delivery of personalisation across global B2C websites, coordinating category design requirements with relevant stakeholders.

• Monitor progress against agreed deadlines, budgets and quality expectations, taking corrective action on routine issues and escalating significant risks where required.

• Coordinate category-related photography, including on-model shoots, and brochure schedules, ensuring imagery reflects approved product designs and all category information is accurate.

• Work closely with Buying, Merchandising and Sales teams to interpret data and insights, identifying commercially informed opportunities for range development.

• Collaborate with wider teams and suppliers to ensure all category deliverables support the overall collection schedule.

Product Quality & Technical Development

• Provide design sign-off on prototypes, fit samples, lab dips, strike-offs, knit swatches and specification sheets within your delegated authority, ensuring products meet approved design intent, quality expectations and technical requirements.

• Lead fit sessions across Womenswear, working with relevant technical colleagues and suppliers to agree fit comments, measurements and grading, ensuring consistency across the range.

• Work with suppliers and internal teams to ensure samples meet specifications and resolve routine product quality issues with factories and mills.

• Oversee category product deliverables, including packaging, swing tags, care, composition and size labels, point-of-sale materials and relevant garment and fabric testing requirements.

• Oversee the accuracy and preparation of CADs, AI renders, flat sketches, print artwork, stitch layouts, technical packs, size specifications and other product design documentation.

• Ensure CAD and AI-supported design tools are used appropriately to explore product detailing and requirements before designs progress into technical packs and fit samples.

• Ensure established design processes, tools and standards are followed and continually improved to support efficiency, consistency and first-time-right delivery.

• Review product imagery and design deliverables against approved samples and designs, ensuring accuracy and consistency.

• Identify opportunities to improve product quality, fit, fabrics, yarns, sustainable materials, design processes and supplier collaboration.

• Escalate significant quality risks, technical exceptions and decisions outside your delegated sign-off authority to the Senior Product Design Manager.

Team Leadership & Development

• Line manage assigned Senior Product Designer(s), leading day-to-day category design activity and supporting Midweight and Junior Designers where applicable to the team structure.

• Set clear expectations, delegate responsibilities appropriately and manage category workloads to ensure priorities and deadlines are met.

• Lead by example, encouraging strong creative standards, accountability and effective self-management throughout the team.

• Provide regular creative feedback, coaching and mentoring to develop individual design capability, technical knowledge and commercial awareness.

• Monitor individual performance, engagement and development, addressing routine issues in line with Company people management processes.

• Identify training, development and capacity requirements within the team, escalating wider resource or performance concerns to the Senior Product Design Manager.

• Provide weekly updates to the Senior Product Design Manager on project status, critical-path progress, delivery risks and resource requirements.

• Collaborate with other design teams and support other brands within the Company where required.
  

THE TALENT YOU'LL BRING

• A relevant qualification in Fashion, Womenswear, Knitwear or Textile Design, or equivalent professional experience.

• At least eight years' product design experience, including two to three years at senior level, ideally within Womenswear, knitwear and textiles for a premium lifestyle or fashion brand.

• Proven experience leading a category or product range from initial concept through to launch, with a track record of commercially successful products.

• Previous experience line managing, coaching and developing designers.

• An exceptional eye for design and brand, with the ability to develop creative concepts, identify opportunities and provide clear, constructive creative feedback.

• Strong technical knowledge of fabrics, yarns, knit structures and gauges, garment construction, fit, finishes, manufacturing processes and supplier management.

• Experience in print and colour development, including creating original artwork, prints and knit graphics. Familiarity with knitting machinery such as Shima Seiki or Stoll would be desirable.

• Strong commercial awareness, including experience working closely with Buying and Merchandising on range planning and pricing architecture.

• Confidence using sales, customer and market data to inform product and design decisions.

• Excellent proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, including technical flats and print repeats, alongside good knowledge of Microsoft Office.

• Strong presentation and storytelling skills, with the confidence to present creative concepts, product stories and range progress to stakeholders.

• Excellent organisation and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple critical paths, competing priorities and tight seasonal deadlines.

• A positive and inspiring leader who takes initiative, works collaboratively and motivates others to deliver their best work.

• An outstanding portfolio demonstrating Womenswear, knitwear and textile design, from initial ideation through to final product.
  

PERFECTLY PACKAGED

• A competitive salary

• 33 days holiday including bank holidays rising to 35 with length of service

• A broad benefits package including our staff favourite – a very generous staff discount across both our brands. See all of our benefits on our careers portal

• Opportunities to make an impact as well as learn and develop further 

• An innovative and friendly workplace with a team we’re proud to be part of. Find out more about us and our culture on our careers portal

Joma Jewellery was founded in 2008 by Katie and Geoff Loxton, since then we have gone from strength to strength, launching Katie Loxton in 2015 and growing our business beyond the UK. We know that part of that growth comes from the fact that we take diversity and inclusion very seriously. We strive to be the best in our field, and we know that happens by hiring a diverse team and encouraging everyone to be their authentic selves when working with us. We don’t hire based on cultures, preferences, or personalities – it’s what you bring to the team that counts.

We are always striving to improve our way of working to be more inclusive, diverse and equal, including encouraging all team members to bring their ideas to the table as we know this is key to our continued success.