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About the Role

Four Hands is seeking a Director, Product Design & Development to translate the company's long-term brand vision into cohesive, commercially relevant, and unmistakably Four Hands seasonal product collections. This role sits at the intersection of design strategy, product development, materials innovation, and team leadership, partnering with various departments to create market-leading, design-forward products that meet business expectations.

Responsibilities

Partner with Senior VP of Design to lead trend research and creative brief development.
Build and evolve the seasonal material and finish library.
Develop the seasonal color story with Category Leaders.
Build out established design houses season over season.
Partner with Marketing and Merchant Team on brand storytelling, editorial content, and design-led campaigns.
Partner with Sales leadership to build training content and collection context.
Execute the translation of the annual creative brief into a complete seasonal design story.
Translate design direction at the suite and category level, guiding the team on form language, material, finish, hardware, and sub-category coverage.
Drive the creative road map with specificity for Product Development, Merchandising, and Marketing.
Identify white space in the assortment and build a plan to address it.
Enforce the standard for what "brand-right" means across every category.
Review and approve CAD and render files for final design intent.
Partner with Sourcing, Merchandising, and PD Operations to own the yearly development calendar.
Partner with Merchandising and Planning to align design decisions with commercial goals.
Create the strategic direction for the indoor case goods material library.
Drive proprietary finish and material development for indoor case goods.
Create seasonal fabric and leather direction across categories.
Build mill and tannery partnerships for fabric and leather.
Drive the execution of proprietary leather and fabric development.
Create the outdoor material strategy across all weather-exposed categories.
Drive outdoor finish development.
Evaluate and introduce new outdoor materials.
Set material and finish direction for lighting across all categories.
Hold the standard for lighting development quality.
Own the design language of Four Hands at a systems level.
Establish CAD standards, specification templates, and design package requirements.
Create and maintain documentation systems to build institutional knowledge.
Bring authoritative knowledge of furniture construction across all major categories.
Apply value engineering discipline at the direction-setting level.
Build and maintain deep knowledge of the Four Hands vendor base.
Hold a high standard for international communication.
Stay current on international freight procedures, certifications, and country-of-origin considerations.

Requirements

BA or BBA in Industrial Design, Merchandising, International Business, or a related field.
15+ years of progressive experience in international product development and design leadership within the home furnishings industry.
Demonstrated track record of building and leading creative teams that deliver commercially successful, design-forward products across multiple categories.
Deep, hands-on knowledge of furniture construction across case goods, seating, upholstery, metal, outdoor, and lighting.
Experience developing seasonal material libraries across indoor case goods, fabric and leather, outdoor performance materials, and lighting across multiple price levels and countries of origin.
Experience owning a seasonal design program end to end: creative brief through market delivery, across multiple categories simultaneously.
Strong commercial instincts with the ability to hold a design point of view and make it work within margin, assortment, and calendar constraints.
Established industry relationships with designers, material suppliers, mills, tanneries, trade press, and manufacturing partners.
Demonstrated external presence in the design industry: trade events, editorial, press, or design community leadership.
Clear, confident communicator across all levels of the organization and across cultures, languages, and time zones.
Expected domestic and international travel.

Skills

Product Design
Product Development
Materials Innovation
Team Leadership
Trend Research
Creative Brief Development
Material and Finish Library Development
Color Story Development
Brand Storytelling
Design Strategy
CAD
Product Development Calendar Management
Commercial Goal Alignment
Material Development (Indoor Case Goods, Fabric, Leather, Outdoor, Lighting)
Furniture Construction Knowledge
Value Engineering
Vendor Management
International Communication
International Freight Procedures
Certifications
Country-of-Origin Considerations

Location

Austin, Texas

Work Type

Full-time

Experience Level

Director
15+ years of experience

Education Level

BA or BBA in Industrial Design, Merchandising, International Business, or a related field

About the Company

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, since 1996, Four Hands crafts furniture, art and décor — pieces that are all about creating space.
Timeless, thoughtful designs with endless possibilities.
Pieces meant to be experienced and form a whole that feels like home.
Our trade customers range from interior designers to large retailers who rely on our expertise to grow and guide their business to success.
We treat our partners as part of the Four Hands family, championing them and rooting for their every win.
We are constantly pursuing better — from sourcing the finest materials and finishes to seeking fresh inspiration to elevate our designs — we are never settled, never done.

Equal Opportunity

Four Hands is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Four Hands recruits qualified applicants and advances in employment its employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, ethnic or national origin, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.