Design Manager (Menswear)

Salary: up to £55,000 per year depending on experience (Band 3)

Location: Cornwall – relocation allowance available of 10% the offered salary

Portfolio: Please provide relevant examples from your portfolio as part of your application, either by attaching a document or including a link within your CV/ cover letter.

About Seasalt:

At Seasalt, creativity is in our DNA. We began in 1981 in a small shop in Penzance, crafting workwear for local mariners and artists. Today, we’re a modern lifestyle brand with over 80 shops across the UK and Ireland, 400+ wholesale stockists, and a growing global presence. We may have grown, but we’ve always stayed true to our roots with Cornwall’s artistic influence and maritime heritage woven into every garment.

As a certified B Corp and winner of Drapers “Best Place to Work” in 2024, we’re proud to balance our culture with long term growth. It's an exciting time to join us as we build on our distinct creative handwriting, brand differentiation, and expanding both internationally and in the UK.

About the Role:

As a Design Manager (Menswear) you'll drive the creative vision for the menswear department. You’ll create contemporary, customer-focused collections that strengthen our brand position and support our ambitious growth plans for this department.

Working closely with the Director of Design, Print Design Manager and cross-functional teams across Buying, Merchandising, Sourcing and Marketing, you'll ensure our menswear collections balance creativity, quality and commercial success. From leading seasonal design direction and trend forecasting to developing strategic product initiatives, you'll play a key role in delivering products that resonate with our customers and reflect our brand's premium aesthetic.

You'll also champion innovation and sustainability throughout the product lifecycle, ensuring responsible design choices, efficient ways of working and exceptional product standards. Alongside this, you'll lead and develop a talented design team, fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture that encourages creativity, accountability and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Developing and delivering a clear menswear design strategy that supports our brand aesthetic and commercial goals.
• Leading seasonal creative direction, ensuring collections reflect customer needs, market trends and the evolving brand vision.
• Driving trend forecasting, competitor analysis, colour direction and inspiration research to create commercially successful collections.
• Overseeing the development of a cohesive menswear clothing and accessories architecture across categories.
• Identifying opportunities for category growth through product innovation and market differentiation.
• Championing sustainable design initiatives, incorporating responsible sourcing and circular design principles into core collections.
• Leading the menswear design team in the sourcing and development of fabrics, trims, finishes and washes that deliver quality, performance and aesthetic appeal.
• Overseeing product development from concept to production, ensuring design integrity, fit, quality and commercial viability are maintained, while driving efficiencies - optimising lead times, costs, and supplier collaboration.
• Guiding fit sessions and development sampling, refining garment construction, silhouettes, proportions, fabrication and detailing to achieve exceptional fit and quality standards for Menswear.
• Partnering with marketing, buying, merchandising and visual teams to craft compelling narratives around design concepts and brand considerations.
• Presenting collections and strategic insights to key stakeholders, ensuring alignment with campaign planning, brand vision, retail performance, and growth strategy.
• Coaching, mentoring and developing the design team, setting clear objectives and ensuring effective workload and critical path management.
• Ensuring the design team delivers seamless handover to the technical team, minimising production revisions while protecting design intent and product integrity.