Footwear Designer - Mens & Womens - Licensed Brands

Location: Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

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

The Role 
As a Footwear Designer at NEXT, you will bring a fresh, commercial vision to our footwear collections, taking ownership of driving product innovation across Russell & Bromley Mens & Womens Footwear & Ted Baker Womens Footwear. 

Your primary mission is to capture emerging global trends and translate them into versatile, trend led, and wearable footwear ranges that deliver exceptional value and style to our customer.

In this role, you will make a direct impact on seasonal collections by bridging high level design concepts with commercial execution. You will collaborate closely with a passionate cross functional team, including Buyers, Merchandisers, Garment & Footwear Technologists, and overseas sourcing partners to bring cohesive collections from initial concept to the high street. 

What You’ll Take On

• Design Dynamic Footwear Collections: Conceptualise and develop commercial, trend driven footwear ranges across varied categories (including boots, shoes, sandals, and casual styles).
• Gather Global Inspiration: Undertake inspirational travel and market research to identify global footwear trends, innovative materials, trims, and construction techniques.
• Drive Technical Execution: Create precise, factory ready CADs, colour CAD layouts, and detailed technical specification packs for international manufacturers and suppliers.
• Refine Construction & Fit: Partner closely with footwear technologists and suppliers during sample reviews and fit sessions to ensure superior comfort, durability, and silhouette precision.
• Design to Cost: Work creatively within designated price point frameworks to maximise product design value without compromising on style, material quality, or structural integrity.
• Collaborate Cross Functionally: Work hand in hand daily with buying, merchandising, and external manufacturing partners to deliver cohesive, on trend ranges to market on time.

What You’ll Bring

• Footwear Design Expertise: Proven experience designing footwear within a fast paced fashion retail, brand, or supplier environment, with a strong understanding of lasting, soles, materials, and shoe construction.
• Advanced Technical Proficiency: Expert level skills in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, with a track record of producing accurate technical spec packs, outsole drawings, and detailed material briefs.
• Commercial Trend Eye: A sharp natural taste level and strong commercial instinct, with the ability to spot trends early and translate them into high volume, commercially successful products.
• Vendor & Factory Experience: Practical experience working alongside overseas factories, material suppliers, and sourcing partners to develop prototypes and solve production challenges.
• Collaborative Spirit: Outstanding communication and team working skills, with the organisation and agility needed to thrive in a fast paced design calendar.

Portfolios
To help us get a feel for your style, please attach a digital portfolio to your application. We are looking for work that demonstrates a sharp eye for the future of Footwear, how your ideas can be commercially viable for NEXT, and showcases your direct design and CAD work. To help you put your best foot forward, we’ve put together a few top tips on what makes a portfolio stand out to our team.

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.

At NEXT, we believe the best work happens when there are no barriers to collaboration. That’s why we are a Google-powered workspace. From your very first day, you’ll be using the full Google Workspace suite; Docs, Drive, and Meet, to stay connected and move fast. If your previous experience is rooted in other software suites, don’t worry! We’ll point you to a digital Google toolkit the moment you join, packed with handy guides and insider tips to help you transition smoothly and hit the ground running.

#LI-Onsite 

About Us

You know Next, but did you know we’re a FTSE-100 retail company employing over 44,000 people across the Next group. We’re the UK’s 2nd largest fashion retailer and for Kidswear we’re the market leader. At the last count we have over 450 stores, plus the Next Online and it’s now possible to buy on-line from over 80 countries around the world! So we’ve gone global!

About the Organization

As a Footwear Designer at NEXT, you will bring a fresh, commercial vision to our footwear collections, taking ownership of driving product innovation across Russell & Bromley Mens & Womens Footwear & Ted Baker Womens Footwear.