Job Description

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

The Role

As an Upholstery Designer, you will play a key role in shaping the comfort, style, and future aesthetic of the Next Home furniture range. You will be responsible for creating market-leading, commercially successful upholstery designs, from standout sofas and accent chairs.

Working as an integral part of our dynamic Home Design team, you’ll translate emerging interior and lifestyle trends into beautiful, functional furniture that resonates with the Next customer. You will work closely with our Buying, Merchandising and Technology teams, receiving dedicated support and development from our Lead Designers to help you settle in and thrive in your role.

What You’ll Take On

• End to End Product Design: Create original, commercially viable upholstery concepts, taking products from initial trend research and sketch concepts right through to final sample approval.
• Trend & Material Innovation: Research and interpret global interior trends, driving innovation across fabric selection, frame silhouettes, comfort detail, and sustainable material options.
• Technical Spec Development: Produce precise technical spec packs, detailed CADs, and clear design instructions (including frame dimensions, foam densities, seam details, and fabric applications) to ensure designs are production ready.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work hand in hand with Buying, Merchandising, and Technology teams, as well as external manufacturers, to ensure designs meet target price points, pass quality testing, and hit critical path milestones.
• Range Building: Help build cohesive, balanced collections that seamlessly complement our broader Next Home furniture and accessory ranges.

What You’ll Bring

• Upholstery Expertise: Demonstrable experience in furniture/upholstery design, with a strong understanding of upholstery construction, frame manufacturing, ergonomic proportions, and fabric behaviour.
• Technical Proficiency: Advanced skills in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator and Photoshop) for creating detailed, scale CADs and clear tech packs.
• Commercial Vision: A sharp eye for aesthetics, form, and texture, paired with a grounded understanding of the Next Home customer and what makes a high volume piece commercially successful.
• Agility & Organisation: Excellent time management and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects at different stages of the critical path in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Collaborative Mindset: A strong team player who builds great working relationships with internal teams and offshore supplier partners alike.

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 upholstery, 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.

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!