Senior Associate, Talent Acquisition, Design and Creative

FashionUnited; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Paid paternity and maternity leave

Commuter benefits

Disability insurance

Tuition assistance

Job summary

Tapestry in New York is looking for a Senior Associate in Talent Acquisition for design and creative roles. This role requires 3+ years of experience in fashion recruitment and a strong understanding of design trends. The successful candidate will engage with talent, review portfolios, and partner with non-traditional schools to promote diversity. The position is hybrid, requiring 3 days in the office, and offers a salary range of $80,000-$90,000, along with comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of Talent Acquisition experience in fashion or design.
• Experience reviewing creative portfolios and assessing talent.
• Strong understanding of fashion, design, and creative trends.

Responsibilities

• Source and engage talent for design and creative roles.
• Review design portfolios with a discerning eye.
• Identify and map non-traditional fashion schools for talent.

Skills

Talent Acquisition experience

Reviewing creative portfolios

Fashion and design knowledge

Proactive candidate sourcing

Collaboration skills

Data analysis

Advanced Excel

Canva proficiency

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent

Tools

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Job description

Senior Associate, Talent Acquisition, Design and Creative

We believe that difference sparks brilliance, so we welcome people and ideas from everywhere to join us in stretching what’s possible. At Tapestry, becoming true to yourself is core to who we are. When each of us brings our individuality to our collective ambition, our creativity is unleashed. This global house of brands – Coach and Kate Spade New York – was built by unconventional entrepreneurs and unexpected solutions, so when we say we believe in dreams, we mean we believe in making them happen. We’re always on a journey to becoming our best, but you can count on this: Here, your voice is valued, your ambitions are supported, and your work is recognized. A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.

Primary Purpose

The Senior Associate, Talent Acquisition – Design & Creative is responsible for end-to-end recruiting for design and creative roles across Coach, Kate Spade, and Tapestry. This role blends a strong fashion and design point of view with data-informed recruiting, proactive pipelining, and employer branding, while occasionally supporting creative-adjacent roles as business needs evolve. The position is based in our New York City headquarters (hybrid: 3 days/week in office, Tues-Thurs) and reports to the Director, Talent Acquisition.

Responsibilities

Talent Identification & Proactive Sourcing

• Proactively source and engage talent for design and creative roles and flex across additional departments beyond creative as business needs require.
• Leverage knowledge of the fashion and design landscape to identify where emerging talent comes from—brands, studios, schools, and alternative creative pathways.
• Build and maintain pipelines across multiple disciplines and brands.
• Review design portfolios with a discerning eye, assessing skills and brand alignment.
• Work closely with design leaders to assess brand fit, creative strength, and readiness.

Portfolio Review & Creative Judgment

• Review design portfolios with a discerning eye, assessing skills and brand alignment.
• Work closely with design leaders to assess brand fit, creative strength, and readiness.

Early Career, Schools & Community Partnerships

• Identify and map non-traditional fashion and design schools to uncover hidden talent and expand access to underrepresented designers.
• Support outreach strategies that allow us to engage talent early in their creative journey.

Data, Employer Branding & Design Industry Engagement

• Analyze applicant and pipeline data (schools, majors, sourcing channels, conversion trends) to inform strategy.
• Support employer branding efforts specific to the design community, highlighting internal and external creative talent.
• Partner on content, storytelling, and social platforms that showcase our design culture, programs, and creative community.
• Support research and initiatives that elevate and connect designers across Coach and Kate Spade.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of Talent Acquisition experience, with a strong preference for recruiting within fashion, design, or creative disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing creative portfolios and assessing design talent.
• A strong point of view on fashion, design, and creative trends.
• Proven ability to proactively source passive candidates and build long-term pipelines.
• Experience partnering with schools, institutions, and/or external organizations to support early career or emerging talent.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity in a fast-moving, creative environment.
• A collaborative, relationship-driven approach with strong judgment and follow-through.
• Strong understanding of ATS and sourcing tools.
• Advanced Excel skills, including data analysis and pivot tables preferred.
• Canva proficiency to support employer branding, presentations, and talent-facing content preferred.

Competencies

Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and actionable positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.

Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.

Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.

Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.

Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.

Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.

Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person’s career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.

Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Tapestry, Inc. is an equal-opportunity and affirmative-action employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Tapestry, Inc. will provide applicants and employees with reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact Tapestry People Services at 1-855-566-9264 or [e-mail].

Base Pay Range

$80,000.00‑$90,000.00

Benefits

Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401(k), paid paternity and maternity leave, commuter benefits, disability insurance, and tuition assistance. Please click here for a complete list of U.S. corporate compensation & benefits.

Contact

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