Assistant Footwear Designer - Girlswear

Working Pattern: Typically 5 days in the office, with core hours flexible between 8am-6pm.

The Role
As our new Assistant Girls Footwear Designer, you’ll be the creative heartbeat of the range, helping to turn global catwalk and street-style trends into the "must-have" shoes, boots, and sandals our customers love. You’ll make a real difference by bridging the gap between high-fashion inspiration and commercial reality, ensuring every pair of shoes is both playground-proof and trend-focused.

Working closely with our Senior Designers, Buyers, and Technologists, you’ll be supported by Next’s industry-leading training, giving you the tools to master the footwear critical path and sharpen your technical expertise from day one.

Our Designers here at Next are always looking forward. Looking for that Next thing, focusing on trend and pushing the boundaries of what we can offer our fantastic customer base. Working as a key part of the critical path; creating new and innovative designs across Girls Footwear.

What You’ll Take On

• Support the Design Vision: You’ll assist in identifying key trends in colour, material, and silhouette specifically for the girlswear market, helping to build cohesive and exciting footwear collections.
• Design with Agility: From sparkly party shoes to durable everyday trainers, you’ll turn fresh sketches into "store-ready" products at high-street speed.
• Technical CAD Work: You will spend your day-to-day creating detailed 2D and 3D CADs, ensuring specifications are accurate for our global suppliers.
• Collaborate to Deliver: You’ll work hand-in-hand with the Buying, Merch & Tech teams daily to ensure designs are technically sound, comfortable for growing feet, and arrive in-store on schedule.
• Inspirational & Development Travel: Join the team on inspirational trend trips to key global fashion hubs to scout the latest street style and retail innovations. You’ll also undertake factory visits to work directly with our suppliers, gaining hands-on experience with the production process and ensuring our woven designs are realised to the highest standard.
• Sample Management: You’ll take ownership of the sample process, reviewing prototypes for aesthetics and fit, and ensuring the range remains a consistent favourite for the Next shopper.

What You’ll Bring

A Passion for Footwear: You have a genuine love for shoe construction and a sharp eye for detail, from selecting the right glitter finish to understanding the perfect sole unit.
Creative Agility: You’re a natural at spotting youth trends and can quickly translate a "big idea" into a practical, wearable footwear design that fits the fun, modern Next aesthetic.
The Ability to Juggle: You’re highly organised and stay calm during peak seasonal periods, comfortably managing multiple deadlines across different footwear categories.
A Collaborative Spirit: You’re a "people person" who communicates clearly and enjoys working alongside cross-functional teams to solve design challenges.
Commercial Savvy: You understand the balance between aspirational design and high-street price points, keeping an eye on costs without losing that "wow" factor.
Technical Foundations: You bring relevant footwear design experience (or a specialist degree) and are highly proficient in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Portfolios: To help us get a feel for your style, please attach a digital portfolio. We’re looking for work that demonstrates a sharp eye for the future of Girls Footwear, how these can be commercially viable for Next, and a showcase of your technical CAD skills.

Applications without a portfolio will not be considered.

Sponsorship

Candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship for this role will be required to meet the Home Office sponsorship requirements. For further information please see: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.

We encourage early applications for our roles, as our recruitment process begins as soon as the role is advertised. If we successfully fill the position, this advert may close earlier than planned.

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Benefits