TEMP Product Designer - Accessories & Soft Goods Packaging

Kendo Product Designer

Kendo Holdings, Inc. is a San Francisco-based beauty brand developer and wholesaler owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury group. A play on the words "can do", Kendo has become the hub of creativity and next generation beauty product development for global Sephora channels and selective retailers outside of Sephora.

Through original development, collaborations and acquisitions the Kendo stable of brands will always be creative, inspiring and innovative. A dynamic engine of speed, expertise and market-savvy, the Kendo team continues to redefine the beauty industry through great product, great storytelling, great retail and direct-to-consumer partnerships. This shows up in everything we do and in what we stand for:

• Can Do Spirit: We work together to make our wildest dreams a reality: As entrepreneurs, we embrace optimism and find creative ways to reach our goals
• Advocacy, Diversity, and Inclusion: We recognize and celebrate the full spectrum of personal identities. We create safe spaces so everyone's voice is heard. We listen with humility and act with courage.
• Storytelling: We tell authentic stories like no one else. It's our key to inspire trust and build relationships, rallying our people, partners, and consumers around our brands.
• Resilience: We embrace challenges as opportunities. Change is ever-constant, and agility is our strength.
• Product Excellence: We put the consumers first: We constantly raise the bar to create products of the highest quality that everyone just has to have.

The Kendo house of brands currently includes: Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Eau de Parfum, Fenty Hair, Ole Henriksen, Lip Lab.

Kendo Brands is seeking a highly creative and experienced Product Designer (Temp role, Manager level) to join our Packaging Department on a contract basis. In this role, you will drive the design and development of innovative and compelling soft goods and accessories that enhance the consumer experience for our diverse portfolio of beauty brands. This includes makeup bags, cosmetic cases, brush rolls, travel pouches, and other non-product related items that elevate the brand experience. You'll play a key role in ensuring these items not only protect and organize our products but also communicate each brand's unique identity and capture consumer attention.

Responsibilities:

• Lead Design Projects: Spearhead the design and development process specifically for soft goods packaging and accessory projects, from concept to final production, ensuring alignment with brand guidelines and marketing strategies.
• Trend Analysis & Inspiration (Soft Goods & non-formula projects): Stay ahead of trends in beauty, fashion, and specifically accessories (bags, pouches, merch, etc.) to inspire fresh and unique concepts. This includes knowledge and research on textiles, closures, construction techniques, materials, and overall best practices for soft goods.
• Conceptualization & Presentation (Soft Goods): Develop innovative soft goods and accessory concepts that blend aesthetics with functionality, portability, organization, and sustainability. Present your ideas effectively to internal teams and stakeholders.
• Technical Expertise: Oversee the creation of technically accurate specifications for soft goods and accessories, ensuring designs are feasible for production, meet quality standards (durability, zipper strength, seam integrity), and are cost-effective. This includes a deep understanding of pattern making, sewing techniques, and material properties.
• Collaboration & Communication: Partner closely with cross-functional teams, including Marketing, Product Development, Sourcing, and Operations, to ensure designs are aligned with product sizing, brand vision, cost targets, sustainability goals, and overall business objectives.
• Vendor Management: Collaborate and communicate with external vendors specializing in soft goods and accessories manufacturing for design concepts, prototyping, and production.
• Prototyping & Testing: Manage the prototyping process, ensuring accurate representation of design intent for all projects. Oversee testing procedures to validate the durability and user-friendliness of the solutions.
• Brand Consistency: Ensure all soft goods packaging and accessory designs adhere to brand guidelines, maintaining consistency and strengthening brand identity.
• Project Management: Manage multiple projects simultaneously, adhering to deadlines and budget constraints.

Requirements:

• Accessory & Trend Knowledge: A deep passion for and understanding of current trends in beauty, fashion, accessories, and merch, especially through the lens of Gen Z and the modern beauty consumer.
• Soft Goods Expertise: A comprehensive knowledge of soft goods packaging materials (textiles, linings, closures), construction techniques (sewing, heat sealing, etc.), and manufacturing processes. Experience with quality control and testing standards for bags, pouches, and related items is essential.
• Hard Goods Expertise: To the extent needed for this category – to include material and manufacturing knowledge for trims, zipper pulls, hardware, keychains, and more.
• Visual Communication Skills: Excellent sketching and rendering skills to communicate design concepts effectively. Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop or a similar platform needed.
• Industry Experience:
• 5+ years of packaging and/or accessory design experience
• Proven experience working with cross-functional teams and managing external vendors.
• High School education required