CMF Designer II
Leapfrog Brands, Chicago, IL, United States
About the Role
We’re looking for a passionate CMF Designer to help bring our products to life through thoughtful color, material, and finish decisions. In this role, you’ll collaborate with designers, engineers, and manufacturing partners to translate CMF concepts into beautiful, manufacturable products that resonate with consumers. You’ll explore emerging trends, experiment with materials, and shape the visual and tactile experience of our product portfolio. If you love blending creativity, material exploration, and real‑world product development, we would love to hear from you!
What You’ll Do
Lead the development of color palettes and specifications for new and existing products, ensuring alignment with brand identity, positioning, and commercial objectives.
Define seasonal color and pattern strategies that ladder up to brand vision and drive cohesive storytelling across assortments.
Create and communicate design intent through high fidelity digital renderings, mood boards, and trend presentations to guide cross‑functional decision‑making.
Present color and pattern direction to senior leadership and cross‑functional teams, clearly articulating creative rationale and market positioning.
Research and apply insights from trend forecasting, competitive analysis, and consumer behavior to inform market‑relevant color, material and pattern direction.
Lead on‑product surface design development, ensuring patterns and graphics integrate seamlessly with color direction and support seasonal narratives.
Partner closely with marketing, merchandising, engineering, and overseas suppliers to ensure concepts are feasible and align with cost and performance targets.
Troubleshoot color matching challenges during development and production, providing clear feedback for colors across different substrates to multiple suppliers to ensure execution accuracy and quality standards.
Maintain accurate CMF documentation and contribute to the evolution of team resources, libraries, and best practices.
Mentor and support junior designers while influencing long‑term material innovation and opportunities for differentiation.
Who You Are
Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Color & Material Design, Textile Design, Graphic Design, or a related field.
4+ years of experience in CMF design, preferably within consumer goods or fashion.
Advanced proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator and Keyshot, with strong expertise in pattern repeat systems, color separations, and production‑ready file setup.
Strong experience managing CMF execution from concept through production, including reviewing first articles and providing corrective feedback to overseas factory partners.
Proficiency in specifying and managing color through standardized systems such as Pantone, Coloro, and Natural Color System to ensure consistency across materials, products and suppliers.
Proven track record of launching consumer products to market with demonstrated commercial success.
Strong understanding of color matching, texture development, and material behavior across plastics, metals, coatings, soft goods, and print applications.
Demonstrated ability to develop cohesive color stories across multiple SKUs and product categories with a strong aesthetic judgment with a refined eye for detail, scale, proportion, and commercial appeal.
Excellent collaboration and communication skills across cross‑functional teams and leadership levels.
Ability to balance multiple projects at varying development stages while adapting to shifting priorities with transparency and focus.
Application must include a visual portfolio. Applications without an included portfolio will not be considered.
Benefits at Leapfrog
15 days Paid Time Off your first year, and an additional day each year thereafter (up to 25 days), as well as company paid sick days, holidays and parental leave options
Medical, dental, and vision insurance as well as commuter benefits and additional voluntary benefits
Annual bonus payouts for all salaried employees, and up to a 5% 401k match with no vesting period
Summer Fridays - from Memorial Day to Labor Day enjoy half days every Friday
Learn more about life at Leapfrog and our benefits by visiting us at www.leapfrogbrands.com
Leapfrog is currently operating under a hybrid work model, and this position will report on site to our Lincoln Park office at least 2 days per week. Additional ad‑hoc in‑office days may be required based on business needs. Please do not apply if you are not comfortable with a hybrid work model. #LI‑hybrid
Salary Band $65,000 - 75,000, full‑time, salaried, exempt, hybrid
Please note: Most candidates can expect to be positioned within the low to mid‑range of the designated compensation band. This approach is designed to set realistic expectations while providing employees with the opportunity for growth and development within their roles. Placement toward the higher end of the band may be considered based on relevant experience, specialized skills, and other qualifications.
Leapfrog Brands is an equal‑opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. 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. Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship or relocation for this position, and all new hires will be required to verify their employment eligibility through the DHS E‑Verify program.
In accordance with the Illinois Human Rights Act as amended effective January 1, 2026, Leapfrog does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen job applicants, evaluate candidate qualifications, or make hiring, promotion, or other employment‑related decisions. All recruitment and hiring decisions are made by our human recruiting and hiring teams.
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What You’ll Do
Lead the development of color palettes and specifications for new and existing products, ensuring alignment with brand identity, positioning, and commercial objectives.
Define seasonal color and pattern strategies that ladder up to brand vision and drive cohesive storytelling across assortments.
Create and communicate design intent through high fidelity digital renderings, mood boards, and trend presentations to guide cross‑functional decision‑making.
Present color and pattern direction to senior leadership and cross‑functional teams, clearly articulating creative rationale and market positioning.
Research and apply insights from trend forecasting, competitive analysis, and consumer behavior to inform market‑relevant color, material and pattern direction.
Lead on‑product surface design development, ensuring patterns and graphics integrate seamlessly with color direction and support seasonal narratives.
Partner closely with marketing, merchandising, engineering, and overseas suppliers to ensure concepts are feasible and align with cost and performance targets.
Troubleshoot color matching challenges during development and production, providing clear feedback for colors across different substrates to multiple suppliers to ensure execution accuracy and quality standards.
Maintain accurate CMF documentation and contribute to the evolution of team resources, libraries, and best practices.
Mentor and support junior designers while influencing long‑term material innovation and opportunities for differentiation.
Who You Are
Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Color & Material Design, Textile Design, Graphic Design, or a related field.
4+ years of experience in CMF design, preferably within consumer goods or fashion.
Advanced proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator and Keyshot, with strong expertise in pattern repeat systems, color separations, and production‑ready file setup.
Strong experience managing CMF execution from concept through production, including reviewing first articles and providing corrective feedback to overseas factory partners.
Proficiency in specifying and managing color through standardized systems such as Pantone, Coloro, and Natural Color System to ensure consistency across materials, products and suppliers.
Proven track record of launching consumer products to market with demonstrated commercial success.
Strong understanding of color matching, texture development, and material behavior across plastics, metals, coatings, soft goods, and print applications.
Demonstrated ability to develop cohesive color stories across multiple SKUs and product categories with a strong aesthetic judgment with a refined eye for detail, scale, proportion, and commercial appeal.
Excellent collaboration and communication skills across cross‑functional teams and leadership levels.
Ability to balance multiple projects at varying development stages while adapting to shifting priorities with transparency and focus.
Application must include a visual portfolio. Applications without an included portfolio will not be considered.
Benefits at Leapfrog
15 days Paid Time Off your first year, and an additional day each year thereafter (up to 25 days), as well as company paid sick days, holidays and parental leave options
Medical, dental, and vision insurance as well as commuter benefits and additional voluntary benefits
Annual bonus payouts for all salaried employees, and up to a 5% 401k match with no vesting period
Summer Fridays - from Memorial Day to Labor Day enjoy half days every Friday
Learn more about life at Leapfrog and our benefits by visiting us at www.leapfrogbrands.com
Leapfrog is currently operating under a hybrid work model, and this position will report on site to our Lincoln Park office at least 2 days per week. Additional ad‑hoc in‑office days may be required based on business needs. Please do not apply if you are not comfortable with a hybrid work model. #LI‑hybrid
Salary Band $65,000 - 75,000, full‑time, salaried, exempt, hybrid
Please note: Most candidates can expect to be positioned within the low to mid‑range of the designated compensation band. This approach is designed to set realistic expectations while providing employees with the opportunity for growth and development within their roles. Placement toward the higher end of the band may be considered based on relevant experience, specialized skills, and other qualifications.
Leapfrog Brands is an equal‑opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. 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. Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship or relocation for this position, and all new hires will be required to verify their employment eligibility through the DHS E‑Verify program.
In accordance with the Illinois Human Rights Act as amended effective January 1, 2026, Leapfrog does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen job applicants, evaluate candidate qualifications, or make hiring, promotion, or other employment‑related decisions. All recruitment and hiring decisions are made by our human recruiting and hiring teams.
#J-18808-Ljbffr