Fashion Designer

**Are you JAM's new fashion designer?**:
**About Us**:
JAM is an inclusive fashion brand designed with people with disability in mind. This means that all of our products have design features that allow people with disability to get dressed more easily or wear our products more comfortably. Founded in 2019 by us, Emma & Molly, two Occupational Therapists working in the disability sector, JAM is rapidly growing to be the leader of inclusive fashion in Australia. Although our impact is large, we are still a small business that means we are heavily involved in all aspects of our brand.

As a growing business, we are excited to announce that we have a Designer role available for those seeking to work with a socially-conscious brand, where they can have significant positive impact on the Australian fashion industry. Any new member of the JAM team will be joining a small group of very passionate individuals who feel strongly about the inclusion of young Australians with disability within the fashion industry.

**Role Description**:
Based in Melbourne and reporting to, and working collaboratively with, co-founders Emma & Molly, this role is responsible for the design and development of funky seasonal collections that serve a functional purpose for people with disability, whilst remaining fashion-forward.

We are looking to hire **someone with disability** to fill this role. We believe in having people with disability be part of all aspects of our business and want to be truly inclusive in front of and behind the camera.

**Key Responsibilities**:

- Research, create and update range themes and mood-boards with co-founder
- Understand the customer profile and design ranges accordingly, responding to the customer’s varied dressing needs
- Identify and analyse market and sales trends, to ensure product development aligns with the seasonal range plan and JAM’s commercial goals
- Design ranges that are in line with budgets and inventory plans, including providing cost indications on style, fabric, trims to achieve target cost prices and margin
- Research, design and develop innovative product designs across all categories
- Ensure fabric quality, artwork development, style and fitting are in line with the brand’s requirements
- Create and maintain clear and concise tech packs and handover to the external product developers
- Collaborate with external product developers on product prototypes and sampling, ensuring all deadlines are met
- Oversee technical processes to ensure consistently high quality in fit and construction, providing feedback on the fit and any visual comments that must be actioned by the production team
- Supply and approve all care instruction for bulk production
- Provide styling guidance and assistance for all photoshoots (catalogue and seasonal campaigns)

**Skills & Experience**:

- At least 5 years experience in a similar role
- Have lived experience as a person with disability
- Highly creative, both conceptually and hands-on
- In depth understanding of product design and development
- Resourceful and proactive approach, with a commercial understanding of the industry and current market trends
- Deadline driven with exceptional attention to detail
- The ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
- Team player who is able to work collaboratively with co-founders and other team members if required
- Strong computer knowledge, and experience with Adobe Suite and/or other design software
- Confident communicator
- It’s important to us that you care about the access and inclusion of people with disability as much as we do and have a genuine interest in the adaptive clothing category

**What we offer**:
At JAM we are very proud of our kind and passionate culture. We are a small team who are extremely excited about what we are creating, and would love to bring you along for the ride as we lead the way in this innovative clothing category.

We offer flexible working options and are determined in supporting the health and wellbeing of our team. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment where people can achieve their potential. As Occupational Therapists, we are particularly passionate about meeting the access needs of our team members.