Job Description

Reports to: President and Director of Sales

Status: Exempt

About the Role

Zelouf International is seeking a Lead Print Designer/Merchandiser to drive the creative vision, development, and customer engagement of our fashion fabric collections and CAD initiatives. This role blends creativity, market awareness, and merchandising strategy with hands-on design execution.

The ideal candidate is a front-facing creative leader —someone who enjoys meeting directly with customers’ garment designers , leading design discussions, and translating ideas into successful fabric collections. This is not a behind-the-scenes design job. It’s a proactive, highly collaborative role that connects creative design, customer development, and operational execution across departments and global partners.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Collaboration & Market Presence

• Act as the primary creative interface with customers—attending appointments, market meetings, and presentations to understand their needs and develop custom print concepts.
• Meet regularly with customers’ design teams to present trends, print stories, and new fabric developments; collaborate closely to bring design concepts to life.
• Travel 2–4 times per year for customer visits, market research, and trade events.

Creative Leadership & Team Oversight

• Lead the CAD design department and provide direction to a Print Coordinator/Colorist who supports print development, coloration, and execution across multiple accounts.
• Mentor and guide CAD artists, ensuring creativity, accuracy, and commercial relevance in every project.
• Take a hands-on approach—actively designing, recoloring, editing artwork, and participating in all stages of development.
• Source and purchase new print artwork; integrate new designs into Zelouf’s owned library.
• Update and manipulate existing patterns to reflect evolving trends and customer needs.

Print Library & Copyright Oversight

• Maintain and grow Zelouf’s extensive print archive and digital design library.
• Partner with the operations department to ensure all new artworks and original creations are properly documented, registered, and copyrighted with the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.
• Oversee the organization, tagging, and accuracy of artwork records to protect company intellectual property.

Story Building & Merchandising

• Work closely with the solid and novelty design teams to ensure print direction complements and enhances broader fabric development , creating cohesive, trend-right seasonal collections.
• Merchandise print and fabric stories that resonate across multiple retail channels—from department stores to off-price and value markets.

Cross-Department Collaboration

• Partner with the New York CAD team , New Jersey digital printing division , and China office to coordinate artwork, color approvals, and production timelines.
• Collaborate with the sales team to align creative direction with account strategies and customer expectations.
• Lead seasonal presentations and ensure alignment across creative, operations, and sales functions.

Trend & Market Research

• Conduct regular market research and store visits to monitor emerging trends in print, color, and fabric.
• Stay current through trade shows, design services, and global market reports, translating insights into actionable design direction.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of experience in fabric or textile print design and merchandising within women’s fashion, fabric wholesale, or textile manufacturing.
• Proven success in customer-facing creative roles —meeting with designers, presenting, developing, and selling print concepts.
• Experience across department store and moderate/off-price markets (e.g., Macy’s, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Ross).
• Ability to build trend-based print and fabric collections that balance creativity with commercial results.
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Photoshop , Illustrator , and textile CAD systems; familiarity with digital printing and base fabrics.
• Highly organized with a focus on design tracking, archiving, and copyright management.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; collaborative, adaptable, and professional.
• A motivated self-starter who leads by example and contributes directly to creative execution.

Ideal Candidate Profile

This is a hands-on creative leadership position for a designer who thrives on collaboration and customer engagement. The right candidate will balance artistry with business awareness, lead creative development while staying deeply involved in execution, and inspire both customers and colleagues. They should take pride in seeing their fabrics in the marketplace, maintaining Zelouf’s creative standards, and driving the continued growth of our print and fabric collections.

The following benefits are available to all full-time employees:

Full Time employees working on average 30 hours or more per week.

· Insperity Group Health Plan

· The Insperity Welfare Benefits Plan

· Dental and Vision Insurance (100% employee paid)

· Basic Life and AD&D Insurance (100% employer paid)

· Voluntary Life, AD&D and Disability insurance (100% employee paid)

· The Insperity health Savings Account (HSA) Program

· Insperity Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Plan

· The Insperity Adoption Assistance Program

o Available to all full-time employees with at least 180 days of continues service

The following benefits are available to all employees (Part Time and Full Time employees)

· The Insperity Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

· The Insperity Commuter Benefit Program

· Insperity Training and Development

· MarketPlace online employee discount

Zelouf International provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

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