Freelance Softgoods Designer

Loop Earplugs; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 111,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

Loop Earplugs is seeking a senior Softgoods Design Lead to shape wearables, bags, cases, and accessories with Loop's visual identity. You’ll own the softgoods workstream end-to-end, collaborating across Product Development Engineering, Industrial Design, CMF, UX, and Packaging to solve construction and manufacturing challenges.

We value 7+ years in softgoods design (or 3–4 years with a strong background in Industrial Design or CMF), deep experience across wearables and carrying solutions, and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of softgoods design experience or 3–4 years in softgoods within IDE/CMF.
• Experience across wearables, bags, cases, pouches and accessories.
• Strong visualisation and communication skills; mentoring others.

Responsibilities

• Lead softgoods design for assigned programs from concept through production.
• Apply broad softgoods perspective across product types, including wearables and accessories.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Engineering, model makers and suppliers to solve DFM and manufacturing challenges.
• Work with Industrial Design and CMF to integrate softgoods with Loop products.
• Drive designs through Design Gate, EVT, DVT while maintaining design intent.
• Provide feedback to junior designers and share softgoods expertise in reviews.
• Help evolve softgoods methods, workflows, and prototyping approaches as Loop scales.

Skills

Softgoods design

Industrial Design

CMF

Adobe Creative Suite

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Location: Antwerp / Amsterdam | Freelance | Experience: 7+ years of experience in softgoods design, or a background in Industrial Design or CMF with at least 3–4 years specialising in softgoods.

Design the softgoods that carry Loop beyond the ear

At Loop, softgoods aren't a side project. They're embedded in our ecosystem of wearable products and how they show up in someone's hands and daily routine. From wearables like sleep masks to the bags, cases, and pouches that carry our products, softgoods carry Loop's visual identity and performance standards into new materials and form factors.

The Role

You’ll lead the softgoods workstream for your programs end to end, working closely with Product Development Engineering, and suppliers to solve construction, integration, and manufacturing challenges, and with Industrial Design, CMF, UX, and Packaging wherever softgoods meet Loop's other products.

What You’ll Do

• Lead softgoods design for assigned programs, from concept through patterns, prototypes, material definition, and production-ready design.
• Apply a broad softgoods perspective across product types, including wearable products as well as bags, cases, pouches, and other accessories.
• Partner with Product Development, Engineering, model makers and suppliers to solve construction, integration, DFM, and manufacturing challenges.
• Work closely with Industrial Design and CMF to integrate softgoods seamlessly with Loop products.
• Drive designs through key development phases and reviews (Design Gate, EVT, DVT), maintaining design intent as concepts move toward production.
• Give feedback to junior designers and bring specialist softgoods knowledge into design reviews across the wider Design team.
• Help evolve softgoods design methods, workflows, and prototyping approaches as Loop scales.

You Won’t

• Treat softgoods as a side project instead of a full part of Loop's product ecosystem.
• Stay inside one product type when a broader softgoods perspective would serve the program better.
• Push a design vision forward without making the manufacturability trade-offs behind it visible.
• Wait for a fully resolved brief before proposing viable directions.
• Keep specialist softgoods knowledge to yourself instead of bringing it into design reviews and critique.

How You’ll Succeed

You're comfortable navigating ambiguity in a design brief and can propose multiple viable directions rather than waiting for one to be handed to you.

You move fluidly between products worn on the body and protective or carrying solutions like bags and cases, connecting each design choice back to user benefit, feasibility, and Loop's wider product vision.

You raise the bar for the people around you, through craft and judgment in your own work, and through the feedback and critique you bring to the rest of the Design team.

What You’ll Bring

• 7+ years of experience in softgoods design, or a background in Industrial Design or CMF with at least 3–4 years specialising in softgoods.
• Experience designing across a broad range of softgoods applications, from products worn on the body to protective and carrying solutions such as bags, cases, and pouches.
• Strong understanding of how softgoods move from concept through development into production, including manufacturing constraints.
• Strong visualisation and communication skills, using design and Adobe Creative Suite tools to develop and present ideas.
• Experience mentoring or giving critique to other designers, and working across a multidisciplinary design team (Industrial Design, CMF, UX, Packaging).
• Comfortable navigating ambiguous briefs and connecting design decisions to broader company goals and product horizons.

Loop isn't for everyone. We might not be a match if you:

• Prefer a fully defined brief over navigating ambiguity and proposing your own directions.
• Prefer specialising in one softgoods application rather than moving across wearables, bags, cases, and accessories.
• Find it hard to let manufacturability shape a design vision you're attached to.
• Prefer working independently over cross-functional critique and collaboration.
• Aren't drawn to mentoring or raising the bar for people around you.