Designer 2 – Tokyo Creation Centre

Department: Design 

Reports to: Director, Design - Tokyo Creation Centre, ARC’TERYX 

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Your Opportunity at Arc’teryx:

As a Designer 2, you collaborate alongside a small, dynamic and highly creative satellite studio, focusing on the Asia Pacific market. You have the opportunity to design product solutions that align with Arc’teryx design philosophies, continuously exceeding our guests’ evolving needs. In this role, you design product for the Tokyo, APAC and Global consumer, across a broad spectrum of categories, genders and functions. You bring your curiosity, passion and understanding of the connection between style and performance to imagine and build innovative, relevant and resolved designs.

This role is based out of our Tokyo Creation Centre and is expected to be performed on-location.

Meet Your Future Team: 

The Tokyo Creation Center is a ground-up, entrepreneurial undertaking, with collective contributions accelerating our business, elevating our product and defining the next chapter of the Arc’teryx brand. We are builders, problem solvers and passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Fueled by curiosity, we take an immersive approach to identifying future needs, then build, test, and validate products that solve for real functional challenges. We are innovative problem solvers with a focus on collaborative teamwork. 

If you were in the Designer 2 role now, here are some of the core activities you would be doing:

•  Creating and executing assigned product designs within seasonal timelines; with outcomes complementing existing collections, as well as future advanced Research & Development (R&D) initiatives 
• Contributing to the commercialization of innovative technologies, including materials, pattern, part shaping, and construction techniques for existing and new product categories 
• Creating patterns, mock ups, and prototypes to explore, resolve, or prove new concepts or construction techniques 
• Collaborating on future-thinking innovation capsules
• Providing detailed product initiations to the Product Creation Development team, including spec drawings, pattern and fit direction, and material information 
• Collaborating with the Fit & Pattern team to resolve fit style and construction issues and ensure a fully commercialized product 
• Coordinating with the Raw Materials team to test new materials and ensure that necessary items are available for prototyping 
• Developing and maintaining a thorough understanding of the materials and manufacturing techniques that Arc’teryx works with 
• Collaborating closely with other designers to bring new and better toolbox solutions that benefit the brand (such as new technologies, construction techniques, features, etc.)
• Staying up to date with industry trends, collaborating with Arc’teryx athletes and other industry representatives to help ensure Arc’teryx is exceeding our guests’ evolving needs 
• Assisting with current product design changes where necessary in order to address in-line production issues 
• Supporting the design director in developing a schedule for the flow of the line plan through all development stages, including charting line plan progress 
• Partnering with the Product Creation Development team to gain visibility into cost estimates, Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) and Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) concerns throughout concepting and prototyping phases for seasonal products 
• Presenting at internal meetings, design reviews, seasonal stage gates, annual seasonal handoffs and other product meetings as required 
• Attending tradeshows, company events as well as sourcing and development vendor visits as required 
• Partnering directly with our athletes to leverage feedback and product testing insights 

Here are some of the things you could be working on in the future:

• Contributing to the long-term strategic plan for your assigned apparel categories
• Collaborating with various design activity leaders to identify new product opportunities and propose product solutions 
• Working closely with our Product Development teams and innovation partnerships to challenge and evolve the way we bring innovative ideas to production

Are you our next Designer 2?

• You have a degree in design (apparel or industrial), or textile engineering 
• You have 5+ years hands-on experience designing textile-based products 
• You are technically proficient with using Adobe Illustrator and Gerber, or the equivalent patterning software 
• You have the technical capability to create solution-driven tools and construction methods 
• You are bilingual, with spoken and written fluency in both business-level English and Japanese 
• You are comfortable in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural working environment, and understand the nuances of cross-cultural communication 
• You have an understanding to and connection with the APAC region, market and consumer, with an in-depth knowledge of what drives the Tokyo
• You are adaptable and able to support designing product across multiple calendar deadlines 
• You are an excellent team player, able to effectively balance autonomy and collaboration 
• You have technical and creative skills to pattern and prototype 
• You are by nature entrepreneurial, proactive and innovative 
• You have strong planning, organizational, problem solving and decision-making skills 
• You are proactive in identifying the root cause of issues, seeking the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions with an unwavering commitment to do what is right 
• You remain highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity 
• You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement 
• Your passion for your work is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it 
• A strong knowledge of Arc’teryx products and interest or involvement in activities Arc’teryx makes products for 
• You have the wiliness to travel domestically and internationally

Equal Opportunity

Arc’teryx is committed to actively creating and fostering a culture of inclusivity where voices are heard, people are seen, and values are respected. We care about the uniqueness of our applicants, employees, and guests, and we do so in a safe space fueled by curiosity and acceptance. 

Creating an inclusive workplace is connected to our core value Do Right while also having the added benefit of helping make our business better. We believe inclusion helps us to create a healthier, happier workplace, drive creativity and innovation, and reflect the communities where we operate.

All applicants, employees, and guests can expect equality of opportunity and fair treatment in alignment with our values.

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