Senior Designer (Womenswear) - Country Road

Country Road; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Product allowance and staff discount

Birthday leave and additional personal

Health & wellbeing support

Job summary

Country Road is seeking a Senior Designer (Womenswear) to shape the creative direction of tailoring-focused collections. You will translate seasonal inspo into elevated, commercially viable product, leading tailoring, cut, and finish with a strong design POV.

Based in Melbourne, you will collaborate with Design, Buying and Product Development, mentoring designers and ensuring collections meet timelines, budgets and quality standards. This is a 12-month contract.

Qualifications

• Strong track record in tailoring with a deep technical and creative understanding of tailoring craft.
• Ability to translate inspiration into elevated product with a distinctive design POV.
• Experience interpreting sales and product performance to evolve future collections.

Responsibilities

• Shape and lead creative direction of collections across your categories.
• Translate seasonal inspiration into commercially relevant product.
• Lead tailoring to create elevated silhouettes with exceptional cut and finish.
• Build cohesive collections with clear point of view across colour and materials.
• Collaborate with suppliers and factories to bring designs to life with quality.

Skills

Tailoring expertise

Cut & construction

Fabrication & fit

Creative direction

Supplier collaboration

Job description

Senior Designer (Womenswear) - Country Road

As Australia’s favourite lifestyle brand, beloved around the world, Country Road delivers timeless Australian style that is designed for life and made to last.

Step into a day in the life of a Senior Designer at Country Road, where creativity, commerciality and a strong point of view come together to shape every collection.

We’re looking for a tailoring expert with a deep understanding of cut, construction, fabrication and fit, and a passion for creating beautifully considered tailoring that balances modernity with timeless Country Road style.

From concept and trend research through to final product, you’ll help define the creative direction for your categories, bringing together considered design, beautiful materials and a deep understanding of our customer.

Working closely with Design, Buying, Product Development and our global supplier network, you’ll lead collections from initial concept through to final execution, balancing creativity with commerciality to deliver product that feels unmistakably Country Road.

If you have a strong creative vision, an instinctive eye for detail and a passion for creating beautiful, relevant product with purpose, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note, this is a 12 month contract opportunity.

How You Will Contribute

• Shape and lead the creative direction of collections across your nominated categories, bringing the Country Road design DNA to life through every detail.
• Translate seasonal inspiration, emerging trends and customer insight into fresh, considered and commercially relevant product.
• Bring your expertise in tailoring to create elevated silhouettes with exceptional cut, construction, fit and finish.
• Build cohesive collections with a strong point of view across colour, materials, texture, proportion and detail.
• Champion innovation and newness while ensuring every collection feels authentic to the Country Road aesthetic.
• Partner with the Head of Design to interpret the seasonal creative vision and translate it into compelling product stories.
• Balance creative ambition with commercial objectives, developing ranges that deliver against option plans, OTB, margin and sales targets.
• Work closely with Buying, Merchandise Planning and Product Development to create ranges that are both desirable and commercially successful.
• Guide Designers through the creative and development process, elevating ideas and providing clear creative direction from concept through to range review.
• Source and develop beautiful, considered fabrics, materials and trims that reflect the season, uphold our quality standards and support responsible sourcing.
• Collaborate with our suppliers, agents and factories to bring designs to life, maintaining a relentless focus on quality, craftsmanship, cost and delivery.
• Lead fittings and product reviews, ensuring the integrity of the original design vision is maintained through to final product.
• Ensure clear, considered handovers to Technical Design and Product Development, keeping product on track through every stage of the critical path.
• Bring the collection to life through inspiring presentations to Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Store teams and key stakeholders.
• Stay close to the customer through regular store visits, using real-world insight to challenge, refine and inspire future collections.
• Use product and sales performance to understand what resonates with our customer and turn insight into meaningful design opportunities.
• Travel to international suppliers, factories and markets as required to support product development and strengthen our global design perspective.
• Lead and inspire the Design team, creating an environment where creativity, collaboration and high standards can thrive.
• Mentor and develop Designers, helping to build capability, confidence and the next generation of Country Road design talent.
• Champion new ideas, continuous improvement and smarter ways of working across the Design function.
• Be a positive and authentic leader through change, bringing clarity, optimism and empathy to an evolving business.

Capabilities We Value

• A strong track record as a Senior Designer or Design Leader, with specialist expertise in tailoring, within fashion or a complementary product category.
• A deep technical and creative understanding of tailoring, including cut, silhouette, pattern, construction, fabrication, fit and finishing.
• An exceptional creative eye and a distinctive design point of view, with the ability to create product that feels relevant, elevated and unmistakably on-brand.
• Deep understanding of the fashion product lifecycle, from initial concept and trend direction through to development, fittings and final production.
• A natural ability to turn inspiration into beautiful, considered and commercially successful product.
• Strong understanding of fabrics, trims, colour, proportion, construction and quality, with a particular appreciation for tailoring fabrication and craftsmanship.
• Commercially curious, with an appreciation of how creativity, customer behaviour and business performance come together.
• Experience interpreting sales and product performance to inform and evolve future collections.
• Strong supplier and factory relationships, with experience developing product across international markets.
• A confident communicator who can articulate a creative vision and bring others along with you.
• Experience leading, coaching and developing Designers, with a genuine passion for nurturing creative talent.
• A collaborative spirit and the ability to build strong relationships across Design, Buying, Merchandising, Product Development, Marketing and Visual Merchandising.
• Highly organised and able to navigate multiple collections, deadlines and priorities without losing sight of the creative vision.
• A considered approach to sustainability, quality and responsible product development.
• Resilient, curious and comfortable embracing change, ambiguity and new ways of working.
• A genuine connection to Country Road and what it represents- Australian lifestyle, considered design, quality, authenticity and enduring style.

What We Offer

• Flexible work arrangements to support work life balance
• Bi-annual product allowance, access to sample sales and 40% discount for you and your immediate family across all CRG brands
• Flex your leave your way, including birthday leave, volunteer leave, personal leave and more
• Access to health and wellbeing support, including Health Insurance, 24/7 EAP counselling and financial advice services.
• 18 weeks paid parental leave program for eligible employees with return-to-work clothing allowance
• Internal career opportunities across our portfolio brands
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Support meaningful community and charity partnerships across our brands, including OCRF, Our Watch, First Nations Reconciliation, Movember, Red Cross and Landcare

Who We Are

Country Road Group is a design-led portfolio of premium fashion brands, comprising five iconic labels: Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Witchery and Politix. Each brand has its own story, and together they hold a market-leading position in the mid to upper tier of Australia's specialty fashion segment with a focus on delivering our ambition to build a portfolio of distinctive brands that drive sustainable growth. Country Road Group is part of Woolworths Holdings Limited (South Africa), a leading Southern Hemisphere retail group.

Country Road Group acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.

We’re committed to inclusion and accessibility. If we can support you with any adjustments at any stage, please let us know