The Lighting Designer is a key design role within the brand’s Furniture and Lighting Design and Development department that builds the future vision of Crate & Barrel through innovative product design. This position will oversee design, guide and execute the design development of all lighting design covering all classes from pendants to floor, table and wall, custom retail lighting projects and B2B special projects.
A Day in the Life of a Designer, Lighting...
- Work closely with the VP Design Furniture and B2B on the design and execution of unique and innovative product concepts for the lighting category.
- Design and develop products consistent with seasonal trends and concepts, and customer/business needs and sales data and insights.
- Develop designs through hand rendering and CAD programs.
- Develop clear, cohesive and high quality presentations articulating all designs for the season in the effort to be best in class brand builders. Present them to internal and cross functional partners in merchandising and sourcing during Design Board Presentations.
- Collaborate with design, merchandising and sourcing leaders across the Crate Brand organization to develop cohesive collections across categories.
- Lead the design development of product lines into well positioned price points, understanding of value engineering where needed, contributing to successful business growth as a specialist for your specific product categories.
- Lead and manage the design development process through its entire lifecycle, from concept and ideation stages, through design sketch reviews, sample reviews, product finalizations under the leadership of the VP Design.
- Lead the set-up of design, product and assortment review presentations for your specific categories in partnership with key members across merchandising, sourcing and stock teams..
- Collaborate, lead and foster the talent of the design team composed of associate, assistant and tenured designers.
- Travel domestically and overseas as needed for design inspiration and in-country product development working with key vendor partners across the globe and in collaboration with our sourcing teams, agents and vendors in our supply chain.
- May manage professionals and is responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of these associates.
- Responsible for interviewing, hiring and training associates; planning, assigning, and directing work; and appraising performance as the job grows.
- Create a design hub with lighting finishes, materials, finish swatches and construction standards ensuring the continuity in an organized, efficient and smart operation for the development of the category.
- Responsible for all seasonal development of Technical Specs and daily communication with vendors on all ongoing designs from multiple development tracks.
- Work on special retail lighting projects and B2B projects as necessary.
What you'll bring to the table...
- Passion for design, style and decorating and knowledge of design and art history.
- Proven ability and knowledge working in the furniture or lighting design industry.
- In-depth knowledge of the functional area, business strategies, business priorities and furniture & lighting design, raw materials and production processes.
- Participates with other senior leaders to establish strategic plans and objectives.
- Ability to interact and collaborate with executives and/or major customers/vendors with experience negotiating/influencing.
- Ability to make decisions on operational matters that impact the effectiveness of the team.
- Ability to translate business and design objectives into strategic creative plans for team/function.
We'd love to hear from you if you have...
- A minimum of 5 years experience working in the furniture and lighting design manufacturing industry.
- Experience leading a team with strong communication and leadership skills.
- BFA or MA in Industrial Design, Furniture Design or any related design field.
- Strong knowledge of design, art history and passion for the home industry, architecture and interiors.
- Strong Technical knowledge and experience with drafting, 3D modeling, and digital or hand rendering essential (Solidworks, Keyshot, AI platform assisted tools like Gemini, Viscom or Midjourney)
- Knowledge of Adobe Creative suite- Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign essential.
