Vans: Head Designer, Color & Materials at VF Corporation Costa Mesa, CA

Vans: Head Designer, Color & Materials – VF Corporation, Costa Mesa, CA.
Overview

Vans is a brand rooted in skateboarding culture and committed to inspiring and empowering people to live "Off The Wall." We drive differentiation through creative design and innovation.
What you will do

A day in the life of a Head Designer, Color & Materials involves collaborating with design leadership to craft the season’s creative direction, and then delivering color and material palettes for footwear and apparel.
Manage the timeline and development of seasonal footwear and apparel color and material palettes.
Contribute to the Vans Global Creative Vision.
Apply consumer insights, trend services, and collaborative design input to assemble color and material stories.
Create seasonal color and material presentations for key milestones.
Develop color and material application guides, ensuring alignment across categories.
Distribute palettes, swatch rings, and presentations to product management and development.
Collaborate with category design leads to cross‑pollinate ideas and maintain design direction.
Maintain visual consistency by managing the palette throughout the season.
Organize and manage the color and material library with the material development team.
Create visual tools for presentations at product line meetings and pre‑line reviews.
Research industry trade shows for new insights and design trends.
Partner with material sourcing to develop innovative fabrics using the seasonal palette.
Track and upload the design schedule to ensure timely completion of assets.
What you need to succeed

Foundation skills and a minimum of 7–10 years of professional experience are required. Formal education in a related field is a plus.
Understand market structure, segmentation, and distribution for all collections, collaborations, and categories.
Proficient in managing a seasonal budget for color and material assets.
Experience with Fiery XF or similar printing color assets.
High proficiency in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Word, Keynote, and PowerPoint.
Experience in research, analysis, and design trend cycles.
Strong presentation, communication, and storytelling skills to support color usage.
Produce and manage color and material assets across multiple overlapping seasons.
Collaborate across departments and manage cross‑department communication.
Lead designer development and coordinate scheduling in the seasonal design calendar.
Strong vision on market trends and knowledge of color and material design tools.
Excellent communication skills, including presenting concepts to executive and cross‑department teams.
Knowledge of manufacturing processes, textile and material construction, and properties.
Analytical problem‑solving skills leveraging technical expertise.
Partner with teammates to build seasonal strategies supporting business goals.
What we offer you

We provide a competitive compensation range of $112,320.00–$140,400.00 USD annually, with potential incentive and commission opportunities. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, and 401(k) plans. Additional opportunities for development, growth, and diversity & inclusion are part of our culture.
Hiring Range

$112,320.00 USD – $140,400.00 USD annually.
Incentive Potential

Eligible for annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission, detailed during the recruiting process.
EEO Statement

At VF, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. VF will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities. We also consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records under applicable Fair Chance Ordinance requirements.

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