Director, Design

Tailored Brands, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 176,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401k with company match

Paid time off

Wellbeing program

commuter benefits

Employee merchandise discounts

Job summary

Tailored Brands, Inc. in New York, NY, is seeking a Director, Knits & Sweaters / Designer, Bottoms, Denim & Outerwear to provide strategic leadership for the knits and sweaters business while hands-on designing casual bottoms, denim, and outerwear.

You will shape seasonal strategy, lead category architecture, and partner with merchandising to balance creative direction with business needs. The role requires strong design leadership, collaboration across teams, and a demonstrated ability to drive

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in fashion design, merchandising, textiles, or related field.
• Significant apparel design/product development experience in knits, sweaters, bottoms, denim, or outerwear.
• Strong knowledge of fabrication, fit, quality, costing, and production processes.
• Proven ability to lead a category while managing hands-on design.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and decision-making skills.
• Willingness to travel for vendor meetings and market research.

Responsibilities

• Establish seasonal strategy and creative direction for knits and sweaters.
• Lead design ownership of bottoms, denim, outerwear; define category architecture.
• Design and develop seasonal products from concept to final sample approval.
• Collaborate with merchandising and planning on pricing, margin, and assortment.
• Lead cross-functional reviews; resolve design, fit, costing, and delivery issues.
• Mentor team members and manage priorities.

Skills

Knit & Sweater design

Bottoms & Denim design

Category leadership

Vendor collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in fashion design

Tools

CAD

Job description

Tailored Brands is a leading omnichannel specialty retailer of menswear, including suits, formalwear and a broad selection of business casual offerings. The company aims to help its customers love the way they look and feel for their most important moments by delivering personalized products and services through a convenient network of stores and e-commerce sites. The company's brands include Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moores and K&G Fashion. At Tailored Brands, we value differences and know they make us better. We are always working to make our Company a more diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) place to work.

About the Job

The Director, Knits & Sweaters / Designer, Bottoms, Denim & Outerwear provides strategic leadership for the knits and sweaters business while serving as the hands‑on designer for casual bottoms, denim, and outerwear.

What You'll Do | Key Accountabilities

• Establish seasonal strategy and creative direction across knits, sweaters, casual bottoms, denim, and outerwear in alignment with brand strategy, customer needs, business priorities, and financial objectives.
• Lead the knits and sweaters category while maintaining hands‑on design ownership of bottoms, denim, and outerwear — defining category architecture, key items, color direction, yarns, gauges, gauges, washes, trims, and finishing details.
• Design and develop seasonal products from concept through final sample approval, including silhouettes, fits, proportions, construction, and styling; lead balanced assortments across core, seasonal, and fashion‑focused products.
• Set and uphold standards for fit, handfeel, fabrication, quality, and construction; review and approve concepts, sketches, yarns, colors, lab dips, strike‑offs, prototypes, and samples.
• Create and present design concepts that support cohesive seasonal product stories and a complete sportswear assortment.
• Partner with merchandising and planning to balance creative direction with assortment needs, pricing, margin, volume, and customer expectations.
• Lead vendor and cross‑functional reviews, resolving issues related to design, fit, feasibility, costing, quality, and delivery; provide clear, actionable sample comments.
• Use market information, customer feedback, product performance, and post‑season learnings to inform future category direction.

Seasonal Development and Execution

• Lead seasonal roadmapping, concept development, line reviews, quality reviews, pass‑off meetings, and final approvals, with clear milestones and sign‑off requirements.
• Manage multiple categories and timelines while prioritizing knits and sweaters; track open decisions, critical path items, and risks, escalating early when quality, cost, timing, or execution may be affected.

Cross‑Functional Partnership

• Align product direction with merchandising and planning on assortment, pricing, volume, margin, and performance.
• Collaborate with sourcing, production, and vendors on feasibility, costing, lead times, and quality; work with technical design/quality teams to resolve fit, construction, and performance issues.
• Communicate design direction and decisions clearly; represent assigned categories in cross‑functional meetings and build accountable partner relationships.

Team Leadership and Development

• Provide direction, prioritization, and category leadership for knits and sweaters; set clear expectations for deliverables, deadlines, and decision‑making.
• Coach and develop team members through regular product reviews and hands‑on guidance; give timely, behavior‑based feedback and promote collaboration and accountability.

Business and Operational Accountability

• Balance creative ambition with cost, margin, quality, and delivery constraints; maintain accurate product and approval documentation.
• Support long‑range category planning, vendor and assortment reviews; use performance data and post‑season learnings to improve future decisions.

Leadership Expectations

• Lead knits and sweaters with a clear creative and commercial point of view while maintaining strong hands‑on design ownership of bottoms, denim, and outerwear.
• Make timely, clearly communicated decisions; hold teams and partners accountable to deliverables, deadlines, and quality standards.
• Address risks and unresolved decisions early and create alignment across categories for a cohesive sportswear assortment.
• Model preparation, sound judgment, collaboration, and high standards of product execution.

Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in fashion design, product development, merchandising, textiles, or a related field preferred.
• Significant experience in apparel design or product development, with demonstrated expertise in knits and sweaters and strong design experience in bottoms, denim, outerwear, or related categories.
• Strong understanding of apparel construction, fabrications, fit, quality, costing, and production processes.
• Experience leading a category while managing hands‑on design responsibilities across multiple product areas; proven ability to manage multiple deadlines, priorities, and stakeholders simultaneously.
• Strong communication, presentation, organization, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Ability to travel for vendor meetings, market research, product reviews and development activities as required.

Success in This Role Is Demonstrated By

• A cohesive, commercially relevant, brand‑right knits and sweaters assortment, plus compelling, well‑executed bottoms, denim, and outerwear designs.
• Product development milestones met with clear decisions, accurate follow‑through, and minimal avoidable rework; strong execution of fit, quality, fabrication, color, and construction.
• Effective collaboration across design, merchandising, planning, sourcing, production, technical design, quality, and vendors, with improved visibility to risks and category status.
• Team members and partners who understand expectations, meet deliverables, and continue to grow; product performance that supports customer satisfaction and company objectives.

Work Environment, Physical & Mental Demands

• Ability to sit and work at a computer keyboard for extended periods, and to stoop, kneel, bend, and reach daily.
• Able to lift and move up to 25 pounds occasionally; must utilize visual acuity, speech/hearing, and hand‑eye coordination to operate a computer and office equipment.
• Hours regularly 40 hours per week, as work dictates, from our New York office.

Please note that you do not need to qualify for all requirements to be considered. We encourage you to apply if you can meet most of the requirements and are comfortable opening a dialog to be considered.

Benefits

• This role is eligible for healthcare (medical, dental, vision), retirement savings (401k with company match), income protection (life, accident, disability insurance), paid time off (sick, vacation, bereavement, jury duty, holidays), wellbeing program, commuter benefits, adoption assistance, education assistance, legal services, and employee merchandise discounts. For more detailed information go to mytbtotalrewards.com.

Work‑Life Balance

• Meeting‑Free Fridays (encouraged) so you can catch up on work and self‑development
• Summer Fridays — from Memorial Day to Labor Day, for a head start to the weekend
• Holiday Early Departure — close out early the business day before a company‑observed holiday

The starting rate for this position is $176,404 - $235,154 and may increase to $293,904 depending on merit, length of service with the Company, and other factors. Base pay information is based on market location and may be subject to prevailing wage laws, if applicable.

Note: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with this job.