Design Manager (12-month FTC)

Design Manager (12-month FTC)

Location: Hengoed (Hybrid Working: 3 days office-based, 2 days from home)
Salary: Negotiable

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and creative Design Manager to join a well-established and growing business on a 12-month FTC basis. This role is ideal for a commercially minded design professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys building strong client relationships while leading innovative product development projects.

The Role

Reporting to the Senior Design Manager, you will take ownership of a portfolio of customer accounts, leading the design process from initial concept and trend presentations through to final production. This is a customer-facing role combining creative leadership, project management and stakeholder coordination, taking multi-product ranges from brief through to production. Working collaboratively with customers and internal teams, you will ensure the delivery of high-quality products that meet both customer expectations and commercial objectives.

You will play a key role in identifying trends, researching market opportunities, developing creative concepts, managing designers, and driving new product development across multiple product categories.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the creative direction and project delivery of allocated customer accounts from brief through to production.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers and internal stakeholders.
• Interpret customer briefs, market trends and commercial objectives into commercially successful multi-product ranges.
• Develop trend presentations, themes, colour palettes and design concepts.
• Brief and support internal designers and external creative partners where required.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines.
• Collaborate closely with commercial, category planning, product development and production teams.
• Ensure designs are commercially viable and suitable for manufacture.
• Contribute to market research, trend analysis and early-stage product development opportunities.

About You

The successful candidate will be:

• An experienced Design Manager or ambitious Senior Designer with strong creative and commercial awareness.
• Highly organised with excellent project management and time management skills.
• A confident communicator who can build relationships at all levels.
• Able to work effectively under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Proactive, adaptable and solutions-focused.
• Passionate about design, trends and continuous professional development.
• Experienced within consumer products, retail or product design environments, ideally across categories such as stationery, giftware, packaging, greetings, seasonal products, home décor or related sectors.
• Experienced in product development and project management, with print or manufacturing knowledge considered advantageous.

What's on Offer?

Hybrid working (3 days in the office, 2 days from home) | 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays | Company pension scheme | Training and development opportunities | Annual performance reviews | Long service awards | Cycle to Work scheme | Childcare vouchers | Opportunity to join a collaborative and creative team environment

Interested? Apply online today or contact Jo Aldred at Reed Marketing & Creative for more information.