Warren James is the leading creator commerce partner for top digital talent, specializing in building premium consumer products and brands. They are seeking a highly conceptual and execution-driven Senior Designer to lead creative development across licensed merchandise programs, overseeing the entire creative process from concept ideation to product design and packaging.
Responsibilities:
- Lead end-to-end creative development for licensed merchandise collections across multiple creator and entertainment properties in soft lines and hard lines
- Translate IP, brand guidelines, and fan insights into innovative, retail-ready product concepts
- Ideate product assortments across categories including apparel, accessories, hard goods, collectibles, and lifestyle merchandise
- Ensure concepts balance fan authenticity, trend relevance, and commercial viability
- Interpret brand assets, style guides (when available), channel assets, and content into viable, on-brand/franchise product concepts
- Develop production-ready product mocks across soft goods, cut-and-sew, accessories, and lifestyle categories
- Create detailed design specifications and tech packs for manufacturing handoff
- Partner with Product Development and vendors to review samples, materials, and construction
- Provide design markups and approvals throughout sampling stages (proto, pre-production, TOP)
- Ensure product designs meet cost, quality, and licensing standards
- Design structural and graphic packaging for retail and direct-to-consumer environments
- Build scalable packaging systems supporting multi-SKU collections
- Ensure packaging aligns with licensor requirements, retailer compliance, and brand storytelling
- Prepare print-ready packaging files and production specs
- Research pop culture, fashion, market, and licensing trends to inform product direction
- Analyze competitive retail assortments and fan communities to identify whitespace opportunities
- Apply trend forecasting to licensed IP in culturally relevant ways
- Bring forward new category, product, and collaboration ideas
- Build high-impact creative presentations for internal, licensor, and creator approvals
- Translate early concepts into polished retail pitches and assortment line plans
- Present design rationale, fan insights, and trend alignment to stakeholders
- Support sell-in decks and retailer presentations as needed
- Partner with Brand Managers, Licensing, Product Development, and Sales teams
- Incorporate licensor, creator, and retailer feedback while maintaining creative integrity
- Align creative vision with production feasibility and go-to-market strategy
- Support approvals across licensors, creators, and internal stakeholders
- Own creative direction across assigned merchandise programs
- Provide art direction and feedback to junior designers and freelancers
- Mentor team members on product thinking, mock execution, and brand alignment
- Elevate overall creative quality across projects
- Build scalable templates for product mocks, packaging, and presentations
- Contribute to creative process improvements across development pipelines
- Support onboarding and creative guidance for external freelancers
- Help establish best practices for licensed product execution
Requirements:
- 5–7+ years in product, graphic, or merchandise design
- Licensed consumer products, entertainment, or creator merchandise experience preferred
- Experience designing for retail assortments and product launches
- Strong product mock examples across multiple categories
- Packaging design samples
- Licensed or IP-driven work preferred
- Presentation/pitch deck examples a plus
- Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
- Product mock development (apparel + accessories)
- Tech pack creation and production specs
- Packaging dielines and print production
- Deep understanding of fan communities and pop culture
- Strong product storytelling and assortment building
- High taste level and trend awareness
- Ability to balance creativity with commerciality
- Strong presentation and communication skills
- Ability to art direct freelancers in the creation of original assets for licensed properties
- Ability to represent Creative in client-facing meetings and lead client approval discussions
- Detail-oriented with production follow-through
- Work within a team dynamic with multiple internal and external stakeholders managing varying points of view