Head of Design-Womenswear

Our client is a retailer in Asia with 1000+ stores, strong ecommerce presence and solid investment in future expansion plans. Due to strong growth they are now seeking a new Head of Design to lead and nurture their womenswear design team. This is an expat position based in Asia, responsible for managing a team of nearly 20 designers.

Purpose of the Role: 

• Lead the womenswear design team for the private label products to generate cohesive stories and themes. 
• To ensure the most effective use of talent to create competitive advantage from concept through to delivery.  
• To ensure the development of commercial product ranges for customers

Responsibilities:

Leadership & Teams

• Be the creative leader and partner to all stakeholders 
• Set and guide creative direction for the categories including putting together option plan
• Lead, train, hire, motivate design team to deliver high quality, customer focussed design work
• Attract, develop and retain talent; create appropriate succession plans
• Monitor and evaluate performance of individuals and teams

Strategy & Development

• Lead and implement the creative strategy across the various product areas in line with consumer preferences and overall business plan
• Provide direction on seasonal requirements on fabrics, trims etc
• Strategically partner with other business units (merchandising, production, development, sourcing)
• Keep abreast of customer preferences, changes in style and trends to remain competitive in the market

Operation & Results

• Coordinate and optimise the use of design resources 
• Allocate and distribute projects and workload across design teams
• Set design goals and articulate business metrics, and motivate teams to deliver results
• Ensure consistently high quality of design work
• Be aware of market trends across the major markets and business units
• Ensure that the design teams provide trend-appropriate design concepts that meet market needs and drive sales
• Set, manage and monitor the design team budget

Head of Design: The Candidate:

The ideal candidate is a senior design manager/Head of Design with strong womenswear experience within the UK high street. 

You will have a global creative view and be able to translate all that into emerging markets in Asia

You will be a leader with strong management experience. We are quite happy to consider senior designers who have management skills and are ready to step up to lead a bigger team.

While you are a Head of Design and you will be setting the creative strategy for your team, however you will be a designer at heart and be prepared to become hands on if needed.

You will be willing to relocate and live and work as an expat in Asia.