[Remote] Senior Designer — Licensed Merchandise & Retail Products

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. 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

Skills

• 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

Benefits

• Performance bonus
• Health, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Fully remote

Company Overview