Senior, Designer - Shoes/Footwear

In 1858, a small dry goods shop opened its doors on the corner of 14th Street and 6th Avenue in New York City. Over 150 years and 800 stores later, we've proudly grown into "America's Department Store", bringing our customers an experience that goes beyond just everyday shopping. For more than 160 years, Macy's has served generations at every stage of their lives. Customers come to us for fashion, value, and celebration.

Our goal is to have a private brand portfolio that is differentiated, defendable, and durable, with distinctive brand identities that empower our customers to own their personal style.

If you join the Macy's team, you will work in an inclusive, creative, and highly collaborative community that puts the customers at the forefront of every decision. We thrive on strong leadership to foster agility and focus within our organization. We celebrate diversity amongst our colleagues to create an atmosphere that encourages our employees to be their most authentic selves. Macy's makes style accessible to all, designing high-quality fashion must-haves, season after season.

Do you have an eye for products and trends? Join Macy's and create connections that will last a lifetime!

A role on the Design Team at Macy's provides the opportunity to think, dream, and create. We seek designers who are visionaries and leaders. At Macy's, we value original design and create products with intent. If you join Macy's, you will be supported in a Design community that values innovation and teamwork.

The Senior Designer is a highly skilled designer and category expert with strong leadership skills.

Design, Assortment Vision, Strategy & Selection

• Align with the Director of Design on trend and category research inclusive of retail market for area of responsibility.
• Set the brand seasonal fashion direction in partnership with the Director of Design, ensuring cohesive aesthetic integrity within the brand.
• Research and develop seasonal trends, interpret seasonal fashion direction, assortment with ability to pinpoint cultural trends and how this affects the fashion industry; source inspiration from runway as well as unique outlets (museums, vintage, tradeshows, etc.)
• Develop and execute a strategic vision, with a progressive, customer-centric approach all while delivering on sales and profit objectives. This role requires the ability to leverage technical expertise to identify opportunities and develop an assortment.
• Own product design from concept through production (e.g., sketch, sample execution, bulk approvals), leading design team in development and execution of product designs.
• Understand the "why" between fabric and material selection and partner with Director/Senior Dr on final decision
• Interpret specific color palettes, patterns, and prints for the season; select and approve style, materials, trims, and colors.
• Ensure designs achieve overall product strategy while adhering to the SKU plans and assortment strategies from merchants.
• Partner closely with the Materials team to create seasonal palettes and support fabric optimization.
• Partner with Product Development team to ensure designs meet the cost guidelines as well as partner with Strategic Sourcing for vendor allocation.
• Lead fit sessions with Tech Design and Product Development teams throughout the season. Ability to communicate with the tech team and align on best-in-class fit.
• Produce cohesive product presentations, including boards, tear sheets, and samples to help sell concepts to merchants.
• React to current selling of the product line based on customer input and sales results, ability to design with learnings from sales
• Adhere to the seasonal time and action calendar for area of responsibility.
• Must be comfortable and effective in leading through complexity. The ideal candidate will be known for both vision and an equally strong orientation for speed.

Alignment with Cross-Functional Partners

• Maintain an industry presence that allows for connections, new business opportunities, and ideas at Macy's. Represent and support the Macy's brand while maintaining this presence and building relationships.
• Maintain relationships with technical designers, merchants, and sourcing divisions to exchange ideas, leverage expertise, and streamline the process.
• Select and approve materials, patterns, and colors.
• Communicate daily with overseas offices to share line development direction.
• First point of contact with Vendor Community (Overseas/Domestic).
• Communicate regularly with Omni partners to gather input and share line development direction.
• Influence decision-making by providing context and reasoning
• Anticipate roadblocks and proactively seek out (and have POV on) solutions

Leadership Profile

• Communicate regularly with Omni partners to gather input Practices open and clear communication, values keeping others informed, and can make decisions in a concise, and confident manner.
• Collaborative style with a strong ability to establish trust and build relationships across all levels and functions of the organization, influencing decision-making.
• A builder of engaged and highly functional teams and partnerships, passionate about our work and focused on developing and coaching design team with ability to identify, engage and motivate talent.
• Comfortable with taking risks and celebrating risk-taking regardless of outcome.
• Tracks and coaches the team's development and talent. Meets with team members individually to discuss progress, opportunities, and wins.
• Proactively identifies opportunities to streamline processes and implement solutions
• Mentors others outside of direct reports, fostering their growth and development
• Resilient, tenacious, and high energy. Able to rapidly bounce back from adversity.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design or Fine Arts preferred
• Ideally, 5-7+ plus years of industry experience
• We encourage candidates with either a bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in a related field to apply.

Other Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong color sense/print sense
• Ability to view and differentiate the color spectrum
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Excel
• Working knowledge of Illustrator, Photoshop, and PLM
• Ability to work a flexible schedule based on department and Company needs

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