Position Overview:

The Lifestyle Accessories Design Manager is a member of the Design team and is an exempt, full-time position reporting to the Senior Vice President of Design. The Lifestyle Accessories Design Manager supports the full lifestyle product design process including interpreting design direction, creation of manufacturable design concepts, technical artwork, and design specifications to yield high quality on-brand commercial products.

Responsibilities:

Design Manager – Lifestyle Products

The Lifestyle Accessories Design Manager supports and executes the design process for lifestyle products including but not limited to; watches, jewelry storage, hats, belts/buckles, bags.
Manage the lifestyle product design process, representing design intent in cross-functional communication in all phases from initial requests to final assortment and collection commercialization.
Interpret business needs and design direction provided by Merchandising and Design leadership, creating concepts, sketches and finally technically specific 2D artworks to yield high quality samples and ultimately commercially viable new products
Create high quality 2D artwork prototypes and/or other hands-on modeling methods expressing the “master model” aesthetic intent.
Recommend materials and customer choices based on design intent for all products to sample, aligning with merchant and product development.
Handoff technical documentation complete with material specifications to Product Development
Guide and partner Product Developer and/or Vendor to interpret technical design documentation according to brand and Design leadership requests.
Provide intent for proper component breakout, construction, and methods of fabrication to meet design intent and production capabilities.
Oversee the review of vendor product sampling files for technical viability and provide technical feedback to cross-functional partners.
Follow the KS Design department standard of organization for all 2D and 3D shared files and design reference standards.
Create the necessary reference libraries to capture and organize components, swatches and other Intellectual property created on the job. Cross training with other design Managers will be necessary to create comparable organization required to do this correctly.
Own the “Collection & Material Overview Document” creation and upkeep to capture all renderings of lifestyle collections past, upcoming and in progress.
Establish any new best practices for lifestyle product design processes and implement process improvement as needed.
Maintain organization of reference samples and other physical libraries associated with lifestyle design work
Clearly communicate project status and manage priorities with leadership input to cross functional partners and pro-actively to Supervisor.
Flex to support priorities of the greater business and Design department as needed. Ex: At times designers from one category flex to support major initiatives for other product categories
Contribute to technical, material and design concept innovations, staying current with design technology and industry trends.
Explore non-traditional and trend-setting materials and techniques.
Ensure all deliverables are of the highest quality.

Design Team Member

Champion the Kendra Scott design aesthetic, quality expectation and innovative mindset
Maintain a high level of communication and collaboration with Supervisor and other members of the design team to ensure continual progress toward timely, accurate, and cohesive assortment completion
Identify opportunities for improvement and create best practices within area of responsibility and role within department process
Contribute your own and respect other’s personal aesthetic opinions to enrich team perspective.
Must be organized, able to act independently as well as take direction, and able to switch rapidly between different projects in a fast-paced environment
Maintain a clean, efficient and safe working environment

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have:

Degree or training or equivalent experience in Fashion, Accessories or Product design or accessories design and manufacturing processes
7+ years’ experience as a 2D product designer for a high-growth company
Rhino or 3D CAD experience a plus
A high level of creativity, elevated taste level and excellent ability to bring concepts to life with 2D
Adept in Adobe suite(Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Office etc.)
Advanced ability in a rendering and visualization skills at a high level of accuracy and precision
Advanced in designing in 2D for physical output including technical model making when necessary.
Manufacturing knowledge of construction and fabrication of working, innovative assembly and constructions
Thorough knowledge of diverse materials including experience in innovating, and troubleshooting for fabric, leather, acrylic/resins, plated metals, precious metals, wood, gemstones, diamonds etc.
Experience with or above average understanding of accessories product development (including “cut and sew”) and manufacturing process
A proven ability to break down larger initiatives into consumable achievable tasks to achieve departmental and company objectives
A solutions-oriented mentality with a data driven approach & ability to clearly articulate plans and ensure team is aligned
Successfully launched products that demonstrate complex product design solutions
A growth mindset: track record of leveraging past learnings, encouraging new ideas and smart risk taking in self and others
Strong communication skills with a proven ability to build X-Functional partnerships to make effective decisions collaboratively
High commitment to employee growth and development: empowers team and defines success as having a significant impact on other’s careers
Adaptability to changing business needs and tight timelines
A shared appreciation for our 3 core values of Family, Fashion and Philanthropy