Associate Designer Jobs in Acton, MA (NOW HIRING)

Great design goes beyond what people wear. It shapes how they feel.

At Life is Good, every product is an opportunity to tell a story, spark optimism, and create a meaningful connection with our customers. If you're passionate about blending creativity, consumer insight, and thoughtful design into products people love, we'd love to have you on our team.

WHY THE JOB EXISTS

You bring the Life is Good brand to life by creating thoughtful, consumer-driven product across apparel, accessories, and home. You own categories from concept through execution, combining design, storytelling, color, graphics, and materials to deliver meaningful product that supports the brand, delights customers, and drives business growth.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

• This application requires a significant commitment to answering specific questions. You may want to compose your answers outside of this app and paste them once you're satisfied with your composition, spelling, grammar, and tone. We can't consider incomplete applications.
• Our market-based compensation strategy determines base pay for our jobs. You can use any of the publicly available tools to predict what you might earn here. All permanent roles are eligible for an annual bonus based on company performance, to which you will make a significant contribution.
• This role is based in Boston. You'll work on-site Wednesdays and Thursdays each week.
• Everyone who applies will get a response from a human. Although we love and use AI regularly, you're about to put a lot of heart and skill into this application and deserve a human response. You'll get one. If you don't answer the questions or meet the requirements below, you'll get a swift and kind rejection.

Pay Transparency: We post our jobs on a collection of sites. Not all of them portray accurate information about our compensation ranges. For years, we've used a market-based approach to determine starting pay for all roles at Life is Good. We encourage you to explore reputable salary calculators like Salary.com or PayScale and, using accurate data for the apparel industry, this job (from the job description), our company size (under 300 people), location (Boston), and 4-6 years of experience in a related field, you will see an estimated pay range for this role.

Ready to learn more about the job? Read on...

Requirements

WHAT YOU KNOW AND HAVE DONE

• Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 4-6 years of apparel design experience, preferably across multiple product categories.
• Strong proficiency in Centric PLM, including product creation, line management, specifications, and workflow management.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and digital sketching, with the ability to clearly communicate design intent through technical flats and presentation-quality renderings.
• Excellent hand sketching and technical sketching skills.
• Strong understanding of apparel construction, garment fit, fabrics, trims, print techniques, washes, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience creating seasonal concepts, color palettes, presentation boards, and product stories.
• Ability to independently manage multiple categories, calendars, and deadlines while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
• Experience collaborating directly with overseas vendors and cross-functional partners throughout the product creation process.
• Excellent communication, presentation, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Curiosity for emerging trends, consumer insights, materials innovation, and AI-enabled product creation.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Lead the design and execution of assigned product categories from concept through production handoff.
• Translate consumer insights, market trends, and brand strategy into compelling seasonal product assortments.
• Own seasonal color, silhouette, material, and detail direction while ensuring consistency across collections.
• Create innovative, commercially viable product that balances creativity, quality, margin, and business objectives.
• Partner closely with Merchandising, Product Development, Technical Design, Creative, and Art to bring product to market while maintaining design intent.
• Present concepts, seasonal direction, and product recommendations to leadership with confidence and clarity.
• Collaborate directly with factories and vendor partners to develop materials, trims, construction, and fit solutions.
• Maintain ownership of seasonal calendars, ensuring milestones and deliverables are met.
• Mentor Associate Designers and interns by providing guidance, feedback, and support throughout the design process.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve product, processes, and team efficiency.
• Automate manual tasks and elevate your contribution beyond transactional work by using AI tools as a standard part of your workflow.
• Use AI to accelerate research, generate concepts, improve communication, and make stronger product decisions.

HOW YOU SHOW UP AND GET WORK DONE

• Think strategically while executing with exceptional attention to detail.
• Take ownership of your categories and proactively solve problems before they become issues.
• Build strong relationships across Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Technical Design, Creative, and external vendor partners.
• Balance creativity with commercial thinking and sound business judgment.
• Stay organized while managing multiple seasons, priorities, and deadlines.
• Communicate clearly and confidently, presenting ideas with conviction while remaining open to feedback.
• Demonstrate curiosity by continuously exploring trends, materials, innovation, and consumer behavior.
• Contribute positively to team culture through collaboration, accountability, optimism, and respect.
• Know and embody the Life is Good mission and Superpowers.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT WORKS

• You consistently deliver commercially successful, consumer-relevant product that strengthens the Life is Good brand.
• Your categories move through development with clarity, speed, and minimal execution issues.
• Cross-functional partners trust your judgment and actively seek your input.
• Your work elevates the overall quality and consistency of each seasonal collection.
• Vendor partnerships become stronger through proactive communication and collaborative problem-solving.
• You identify new opportunities for innovation in product, materials, construction, and process.
• You help build a stronger design organization by mentoring others and contributing to a collaborative, high-performing team.
• Your product reflects thoughtful design, premium quality, and meaningful storytelling that resonates with consumers.

Benefits

We are located in the innovative and thriving Fort Point neighborhood. Our community is full of green space, outstanding food, and entertainment options. We offer top-quality Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, Transit or Parking Reimbursement Accounts, Life, AD&D, Short and Long-Term Disability, 401(k) with a match, Paid Time off, 10 paid holidays, Good Vibes Time (we pay you to volunteer for the non-profit cause of your choice) and Family Time. And we have dogs. You'll be involved in growing our social mission through the Playmaker Project.

Life is Good is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender orientation or expression, marital status or veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic under applicable federal or state law.