Design Manager - Category Lead

At Joseph Joseph, we are driven by a simple yet powerful belief — that intelligent design has the ability to transform everyday living. We create distinctive, thoughtfully engineered products that not only solve real-world problems but also bring joy, beauty, and functionality to daily life.

Headquartered in London, we have grown into one of the world’s most admired houseware brands, with a presence in over 100 countries and partnerships with leading department stores, independent retailers, and a rapidly expanding e-commerce business.

We are seeking a talented Design Manager – Category Lead to join our New Product Development team at Joseph Joseph. As the Category Lead, you will take end-to-end ownership of the Cookshop, Cookware and Cleaning & Organisation categories, reporting into our VP of Product Delivery and working closely with the Chief Creative Officer and cross-functional partners to deliver market-leading ranges on time and within budget.

What you will be doing:

• Category leadership:
• Set and execute the vision for Cookshop, Cookware and Cleaning & Organisation, identifying opportunities to innovate and grow each category.
• Develop and maintain category road-maps in line with seasonal critical paths and commercial objectives and build inherent category value.
• Project delivery:
• Accountable for multiple, fast-paced complex projects launching into a global marketplace.
• Resolve design details and drive development forward, ensuring on-time launches against tight timelines.
• Liaise directly with packaging designers and manufacturing suppliers to manage prototypes, samples and quality checks.
• Team management & succession:
• Line-manage the existing Cookshop & Cookware designer, providing coaching, feedback and performance management.
• Mentor junior colleagues, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Cross-functional collaboration:
• Work with in-house and external designers, engineers and commercial teams to align on requirements, budgets and margin targets.
• Assess technical development issues, define scope for resolution, communicate options, and drive issues to closure.
• Commercial stewardship
• Ensure all projects remain within agreed budgets and product costs align with margin targets.
• Analyse category performance post-launch, identifying learnings and improvements for future ranges.

What we need from you

• An undergraduate (or master’s) degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Significant product development experience, with a proven track record of delivering complex consumer goods from concept to manufacture.
• Demonstrable category-leadership skills: strategic thinking, roadmap planning and the ability to drive innovation.
• Experience managing, mentoring and developing design professionals, with the agility to support recruitment and handover processes.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills, able to present ideas clearly to senior teams.
• Sound understanding of manufacturing techniques and processes, ideally with factory experience in the Far East.
• Proficiency in design applications such as Adobe CS and SolidWorks.
• A creative, entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to challenge conventional thinking while keeping ideas commercial.

What you will get from us:

• Competitive salary and holiday allowance
• Company performance related bonus
• A pension contribution
• An exclusive staff discount
• 24/7 healthcare appointment support
• Hybrid working – 3 days in office & 2 days from home and flex start/finish times
• External private employee wellbeing support
• Access to Perkbox
• Volunteer days
• Team Recognition scheme
• Training and Development
• Holiday carry-over scheme
• Season-ticket travel loan
• Cycle to work scheme
• Parental Leave support
• Holiday trading (buy/sell) and extra holiday days for long service