Design Industrial Placement (12 months)

Who are we?

Here at N Brown we serve our customers through distinct brands; JD Williams, Simply Be, Jacamo and we are experienced, gained from over 160 years of trading; Inclusive as we believe in fashion without boundaries; sustainable as we strive to make as little impact on the planet and focused on the future as we are ALWAYS looking for ways to develop our business and serve our customers better.

Our Vision as a business is that by ‘Championing inclusion, we’ll become the most loved and trusted fashion retailer’. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is, therefore, central to our culture. We’re committed to both building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment that values equality for all.

The Role:

We are looking for a placement student to join our Design team for a 12-month period from September 2024.

The Design role involves creating exciting, commercial, fashion-relevant collections which our customers will love. Our Design team is collectively responsible for the design & development of women’s, men’s and homeware collections. This involves analysing, identifying and interpreting the latest catwalk and lifestyle trends, creating seasonal colour palettes, through to designing and developing the clothing ranges. Our Designers work closely with the Buying and QA teams to ensure all new designs work at both departmental level and as a coordinated collection.

What’s in it for you?

• Hybrid working and staggered start times to give you the flexibility you may need
• A range of financial wellbeing support
• Pro-rated annual leave (plus 8 bank holidays) with the option to buy an additional 10 over the year
• Mental Health support both internally and externally via our wellbeing champions and counselling services
• Company pension with up to 8% N Brown contribution
• Life Assurance and Private Medical Insurance
• Colleague discount across all our N Brown Group brands and onsite café with subsidised rates and local restaurant discounts!
• Annual bonus scheme
• Paid volunteer time – N Brown offer all colleagues a full day paid to volunteer for a charity of their choice

What will you do as a Design Industrial Placement?

• Supporting delivering key trends, colour and print direction by providing co-ordination and administration of design materials, imagery, samples and tracking of activity.
• Helping to ensure that the right level of newness is achieved to create exciting ranges and identify new, developing trends.
• Supporting the team on technical drawing and spec sheets.
• Working with the team to re-colour and re-work existing designs.
• Supporting in creating new designs in line with competitors and future trends.
• Preparation, analysis and presentation of research on specific products; providing competitor assessments and shopping reports.
• Creation of and system management of design information.
• Attending and contributing to the regular departmental creative meetings and providing updates on work activities.

What experience will you have?

We’re looking for an aspiring Designer on a related degree course with excellent womenswear or menswear knowledge. Ideally, you’ll also have some knowledge of design systems, CAD, Photoshop and Illustrator and an interest in print and pattern. Some knowledge of repeats and printing techniques would be an advantage.

You’ll be innovative, flexible, creative and forward thinking with excellent time management and an organised and planned approach to your work. Strong verbal and written communication skills are essential, along with the ability to build effective and professional relationships with your Design colleagues as well as the wider Product team.

Our promise to you:

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

How to apply:

To apply please submit your current CV. Please also email a maximum of 5 examples from your portfolio to emerging.talent.careers@nbrown.co.uk with your name and “Design Placement Application” in the subject line of the email. Please note – we will not except anything more than 5 examples.

Applications will close on 24th November 2023. If your application is successful, then you will be invited to a face-to-face interview. This will be in early December and following this, you will be notified of the outcome within 2 weeks.