We are looking for a Design Lead to join the Home and Gift Design in our Support Office on a 12 month maternity cover contract.
Leading the product design and development and creating innovative ranges that bring the OB vision to life, you will shape fresh design concepts and work with the wider team to execute designs that deliver distinctive, trend-led products and move OB forward as a design-led retailer. Leading home and gift categories including tabletop, textiles, home accessories, furniture, lighting, bath & body, travel accessories and stationery, you will bring strong design judgement, proven team leadership, and confidence with print and colour.
This is a fast-paced, creative role that calls for strong self-awareness, excellent organisation, and the ability to influence and inspire others.
You will collaborate closely with Founder Olly, alongside the design, buying and merchandising teams, to develop ideas and products that are aligned with the brand and customer.
Our Support Office is based in Tolworth, near Chessington, only a 30-minute journey from London Waterloo. We offer hybrid working with a split of 3 days in the office and 2 days home working per week.
A bit about us …
At Oliver Bonas (OB), our values of Work Hard, Play Hard & Be Kind are integral to everything we do. Collaboration, imagination, curiosity, and teamwork are key to our success, and everyone has their part to play in making OB a special place to work.
Having fun is key, and a playful and positive approach creates an optimistic environment. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we are serious about what we do.
Our team knows their stuff. They’re confident and creative and unafraid to challenge convention to find solutions, taking accountability for their actions, but always with kindness and humility.
More about the role …
Design Strategy and Brand Awareness
- Collaborate with Olly to ensure the OB vision is translated into design concepts
- Drive the design vision and thinking across the Home & Gift department
- Identify lifestyle trends and put forward and execute new product opportunities for the brand
- Develop a key understanding and affinity with the OB core customer
- Collaborate with wider design team to develop and decide on the design concept for the season
- Have a visual overview of the whole H&G designs and deliver visually balanced design ranges to keep it evolving
- Set the design tone for H&G with seasonal design concept and trends for different home & gift areas. Support the visual ideas with research on lifestyle trends
- Partner with the Head of Buying to deliver commercial and design-led ranges that maximise sales and strengthen OB’s design identity
- Lead the design and development of cohesive multi-product collections across the home and gift categories
- Demonstrate strong expertise in manufacturing processes and procedures, with the ability to rapidly build effective relationships and gain a comprehensive understanding of OB’s supplier base. Committed to working with the design team to continuously improve and ensure the successful delivery of high-quality products that support key business objectives
- Work with marketing team to create design content for social media
Product Development
- Work closely with our supply base to understand and develop capability
- Have extensive product development and technical material knowledge to support design development across the different categories
- Communicate with suppliers on design developments, materials and understand value engineering of products
- Work with the QA team to understand technical requirements and to ensure they are met at the design stage
- Coordinate and communicate seasonal design concept and trends with the buying team and the wider design team to ensure all products attain OB taste level
- Develop relationships with suppliers, supporting them in developing and delivering new materials for the story and seasonal looks
- Carry out product development, tradeshow trips as well as attending inspirational trips
- Build ranges and developing collections collaboratively with the Buying team, ensuring the range is balanced and commercial, while maintaining new experimental designs within the collection
- Attend and present design concept at sign off with Olly and the Buying and Merchandising teams
- Manage the design critical path management for the design team
- Ensure the OB brand values are reflected in all areas of work from design development to production
Building Relationships
- Inspire and work collaboratively with Creative Art Director, Marketing and Web teams to ensure a clear and authentic design message and vision are translated and communicated
- Work with the Buying team to ensure the balance between creativity and commerciality
- Collaborate with the Buying team to focus research on specific categories for seasonal needs
- Lead, manage and develop the H&G Design team
- Build a strong team and motivate them to collaborate and support each other to ensure effective communication
- Share all relevant company meeting information including the overall strategy with the team to ensure they understand their own contribution to this
- Generous employee discount up to 50% off all OB products
- Free access to our 24 hour employee assistance programme with Optima Health – offering financial, emotional and vocational support
- Flexible holiday – 33 days (including bank holidays) – increasing to 35 days with length of service
- Annual discretionary profit related bonus scheme
- Free membership for our Westfield Health Cash Plan or Private Medical
- Free access to our onsite gym
- Cycle to work scheme
- Refer a Friend incentive
- Quarterly free lunch
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Voice network and EDI team
- Mental Health First Aider support
- Education and support through 360L eLearning platform
What we look for:
- Strong team management experience within a creative environment is essential
- Design degree background preferable
- A proven track record in home and gift design
- Extensive design and development knowledge across the home and gift categories
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Flexible approach and ability to prioritise projects and handle multiple tasks and manage time effectively to meet deadlines
- Ability to develop and maintain productive relationships and communicate effectively with internal and external partners
- Strong attention to detail and organisational skills
- Proactive, vibrant and ready to take on take on anything
- A professional attitude towards carrying out your duties and responsibilities and be courteous to colleagues, customers and visitors alike
- A genuine passion for Retail and Design
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at OB
At Oliver Bonas, our promise is to do our bit to make living a joyful experience and give cause for optimism. This promise is central to our work in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). To bring joy to others, we must first ensure everyone at OB feels valued, included and most importantly, can be themselves at work.
It is important to us that our brand reflects wider society and the communities in which we operate. As a result, we welcome all eligible applicants for this role however we are particularly interested in speaking to eligible candidates from the Black, Asian & Mixed Heritage communities.
Oliver Bonas is a Disability Confident Committed employer under the Disability Confident employer scheme.
To read more about our ED&I commitments, head over to the EDI page on our website: https://www.oliverbonas.com/meet-the-team/diversityeam/diversity
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