Job Description

Working Pattern: Typically 3 days in the office, with core hours flexible between 8am-6pm.

The Role
As a Christmas Decorations Designer, you will be the creative architect behind the magic of our festive season. Your mission is to translate global winter trends into commercial, high-quality products that span everything from ornate baubles and majestic trees to wreaths, garlands, and room decorations.

You’ll play a pivotal role in ensuring a cohesive and enchanting "Next Home" festive aesthetic. Working as a key part of the critical path, you will push the boundaries of seasonal decor, creating innovative designs that captivate our customers. You will work closely with our wider Home design team and buying partners, receiving full support from our Lead Designers to ensure you hit the ground running for this fast-paced 6-month fixed-term contract.

Our Designers here at Next are always looking forward. Looking for that Next thing, focusing on trend and pushing the boundaries of what we can offer our fantastic customer base. Working as a key part of the critical path; creating new and innovative Print and Pattern Designs for our Bedding range!

What You’ll Take On

• Design & Innovation: Create original, commercially viable designs for baubles, wreaths, garlands, and large-scale room decorations that align with our seasonal trends.
• Trend Translation: Interpret global festive trends into tangible products, ensuring a balanced mix of traditional and contemporary styles.
• Technical Design: Produce detailed CAD work and technical specifications to ensure designs are production-ready and meet Next’s quality standards.
• Collaboration: Partner with the Buying and Merch teams to ensure designs are cost-effective and hit the necessary delivery windows.
• Product Development: Oversee the journey of a decoration from initial sketch to final sample, ensuring the "Next" level of detail is maintained throughout

What You’ll Bring

• Creative Flair: A strong eye for festive aesthetics, color, and texture, with the ability to design across various materials (glass, foliage, textiles, etc.).
• Technical Proficiency: Advanced skills in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator) for creating high-quality CADs.
• Adaptability: The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and hit the ground running within a 6-month contract.
• Commercial Awareness: A grounded understanding of the Next customer and what makes a Christmas product a "must-have."

• Organisation: Excellent time management skills to handle multiple projects within the seasonal critical path.

Portfolios: To help us get a feel for your style, please attach a digital portfolio. We’re looking for work that demonstrates a sharp eye for the future of Christmas & Seasonal Decor, how these can be commercially viable for Next, and showcases your designs and CAD work within this area!

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

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.

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.

#LI-Onsite

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!