Senior Designer – Furniture and Upholstery

About the role

Are you a Senior Furniture Designer looking for your next big opportunity? We’re looking for a highly experienced and creative Furniture designer to join our team, designing and developing own brand products including cabinetry, freestanding furniture and upholstery.

What you’ll bring:

• A versatile design ‘handwriting’ capable of adapting to multiple styles.
• Extensive experience in product development across various home furniture products.
• Exceptional research skills with a proven ability to identify key furniture trends and successfully translate them into commercial, market‑ready products.

Contract type:
Permanent contract.

Working pattern/flexible working:
The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you’ll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The Product Design team aims for 3 days a week in the office to connect and on a more ad‑hoc basis to attend key meetings.

Location:

This role is based at our London Head Office campus in Pimlico. Please note, any cost incurred as a result of travel to the office is the responsibility of the successful candidate. There is no travel allowance for this role.

Design:

• Create the individual category design strategy, ensuring it is aligned to the overall strategic direction and providing insight into your area of Own Brand products.
• Play a critical role in delivering product design that will form a coherent category assortment aligned to brand/sub‑brand guidelines and in service of our customers. You will focus on technically more complex products and/or lead the design of a more complex sub‑category.
• Align to the Own Brand assortment strategy with a strong focus on understanding our customer and their evolving needs and desires to ensure that we deliver appropriate and relevant products. You will have high involvement in trend and forecasting.
• Recommend, prepare and present relevant and appropriate category trends through high quality research to the wider team.
• Ensure the sampling process is efficient. Produce precise design packs and fulfil seasonal design briefs with commercial and innovative solutions, supported by illustrating/briefing/sourcing key materials and details. Ensure accurate samples are produced. Maintain comprehensive records of design projects.
• The role requires the application of a diverse set of skills to effectively bring design concepts to life. Candidates must demonstrate proficiency not only in traditional design and development techniques—such as drawing, painting, and model making—but also in the use of modern design software. This includes tools for 3D modelling, furniture & hard goods design, and 2D applications (pattern and surface design).
  
  Additionally, a working knowledge of emerging technologies, including 3D printing, rapid prototyping, and the integration of artificial intelligence in the design development process is essential.
• The role requires you to effectively communicate the technical designs of your designs to suppliers and manufacturers for costing, prototyping and production.

Stakeholder Management:

• Work collaboratively with all levels of Buying, Merchandising and the Technical team to co‑create the briefs and deliver identified outcomes ensuring that these align with the brand guidelines.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships, including co‑creating designs.
• Lead success‑driven, cross‑department working through effective stakeholder relationships. Lead through change.

Leadership:

• Foster a collaborative and high‑performance team culture and, where required within the team structure, provide high calibre People Management to L8 Designers and Assistant Designers.
• Create the conditions for them to thrive, and balance their focus and priorities as required.
• Where required within the team structure, you will be accountable for the Partners you manage, ensuring they deliver against their goals and address any underperformance decisively, fairly and swiftly. Engage in conversations to support their direct reports via development to improve/close the gap to give every chance to improve…