Senior Design Manager Jobs in Connecticut (NOW HIRING)

At Rhone, we cultivate a work culture that is empowering and rooted in our core values. We are gritty, approaching challenges with resilience and determination. We are responsible, holding ourselves accountable to each other and the work we do. We strive for excellence, pushing boundaries to deliver our best every day. We remain authentic, embracing honesty, humility, and individuality. And above all, we are team centered, knowing that true success comes from collaboration and shared purpose.

Rhone is seeking a Vice President of Design to lead the creative vision and design execution across its Men’s and Women’s businesses.

Reporting to the Chief Merchandising Officer, this leader will translate Rhone’s brand purpose, merchandising strategy, consumer insights, and commercial priorities into distinctive, innovative, and relevant products. The VP of Design will create cohesion across the brand while ensuring that Men’s and Women’s each have a clear, customer-led point of view.

This role will lead the internal and external design organization across apparel, accessories, and strategic product initiatives. The VP will partner closely with Merchandising, Product Development, Production, Planning, and Marketing to deliver compelling collections that balance creativity, functionality, innovation, and commercial performance.

• Define and evolve Rhone’s design vision across Men’s and Women’s.
• Set the creative direction for seasonal and monthly collections, including silhouette, color, materials, fit, construction, functionality, and product storytelling.
• Establish a recognizable Rhone design language while maintaining distinct perspectives for the Men’s and Women’s customers.
• Guide the development of balanced collections that strengthen core franchises, improve existing products, introduce meaningful innovation, and support category growth.
• Maintain a deep understanding of consumer behavior, cultural trends, competitive activity, and the performance and lifestyle apparel market.

• Establish a product innovation agenda across materials, construction, comfort, fit, performance, and functionality.
• Build strategic relationships with mills, suppliers, manufacturers, athletes, ambassadors, and external innovation partners.
• Partner with Product Development and Production throughout the product lifecycle, from initial concept and sampling through wear testing, commercialization, and production.
• Use customer feedback, product reviews, wear-testing results, returns data, and commercial performance to inform future design decisions.
• Advance modern design and product-creation capabilities, including PLM, 3D design, digital visualization, and emerging AI-enabled workflows.

• Serve as the senior design partner to the Chief Merchandising Officer.
• Translate merchandising, assortment, and category strategies into compelling and commercially relevant product.
• Partner with Planning and Finance to align design priorities with revenue, margin, pricing, inventory, and product-productivity goals.
• Collaborate with Product Development and Production to balance creative ambition with cost, quality, sourcing capabilities, and calendar requirements.
• Establish clear design milestones and decision-making processes that improve speed, accountability, and cross-functional alignment.
• Manage the design budget and deliver against agreed measures, including design cost, style productivity, gross margin, product performance, and calendar adherence.

• Lead, develop, and inspire Rhone’s Men’s and Women’s design teams.
• Build the organizational structure and capabilities required to support future category and business growth.
• Attract and retain exceptional design talent while strengthening leadership development and succession planning.
• Establish clear expectations, decision rights, and accountability across the design organization.
• Create a culture that balances creativity and curiosity with commercial discipline, speed, and execution.
• Foster strong collaboration across Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Production, Planning, and Marketing.

• A clear and recognizable Rhone design point of view across Men’s and Women’s.
• Greater cohesion across the brand, with differentiated and relevant products for each customer.
• A stronger creative and commercial partnership between Design and Merchandising.
• A more disciplined product-creation process and innovation pipeline.
• Improved product relevance, productivity, and commercial performance.
• A high-performing design organization with strong leadership and clear accountability.

• Significant progressive experience in apparel design, including senior leadership responsibility across multiple categories or design teams.
• A strong portfolio of distinctive, innovative, and commercially successful products.
• Deep expertise within premium active, performance, lifestyle, sportswear, or technically oriented apparel.
• Demonstrated understanding of both Men’s and Women’s consumers.
• Comprehensive knowledge of apparel design and development, including construction, fit, textiles, color, materials, manufacturing, and cost engineering.
• Proven ability to partner with senior Merchandising, Product Development, Production, Planning, and Finance leaders.
• Experience connecting creative strategy with revenue, margin, productivity, and brand-growth objectives.
• Proven success building and developing high-performing design teams.
• Strong executive communication, presentation, influencing, and decision-making capabilities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Design or a related discipline preferred; equivalent professional experience will be considered.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

• Competitive compensation
• Health, dental, vision, and ancillary benefits
• 401(k) with company incentive savings plan
• 10 company holidays annually
• Discretionary time off policy
• Career growth and advancement opportunities
• Clothing discount plus semi-annual gift card allotment

Job Type: Full Time

Reports to: Chief Merchandising Officer

Location: Hybrid - Based in Stamford, CT

Rhone Apparel, Inc is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, training and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status.