Senior Color Designer
About The Position
Stio is seeking a Senior Color Designer to lead and apply design thinking through color across Product, Merchandising, and Creative storytelling. The role is the seasonal color vision lead, using industry trends, consumer insights, competitive research, and product end use to inform color direction, line planning, and merchandising strategies across product categories. The designer develops seasonal color concepts, themes, palettes, and strategies, and communicates them to Product Development, Technical Design, Merchandising, and Go-To-Market teams. The role ensures color integrity and consistency throughout the product lifecycle, from initial concept through final execution, while helping shape retail storytelling and brand identity across channels. This position is based on-site at Stio’s Jackson Hole headquarters.
Requirements
- BFA or higher in apparel, graphic, or print design.
- At least 4 years of professional color design experience.
- Specific training or education in color theory.
- Experience executing color merchandising strategy.
- Ability to manage next-level contributors and subordinates.
- Understanding and proficiency in the full product lifecycle.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to present work and thought process to various levels of leadership.
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite.
Responsibilities
- Use color and trend forecasting services and participate in outdoor and adjacent-industry tradeshows to identify market shifts and inform brand-relevant color application.
- Collect physical and visual research, including photos, swatches, reports, and material samples, to support seasonal palettes and color direction.
- Collaborate with Product Line Management and Merchandising to ensure seasonal color strategies support product end use, audience, and overall aesthetic.
- Create mood boards, palette inspiration, and reference materials to brief external color design partners and internal development teams.
- Analyze trend and market data across outdoor, fashion, and adjacent industries to build seasonal palettes that balance forward-thinking direction with commercially viable core offerings.
- Manage the seasonal contract labor budget for color design services and external support.
- Partner with the Materials team to troubleshoot material and color application issues and ensure accurate execution through lab dips, strike-offs, and product review.
- Lead seasonal strategy for yarn-dyed textiles and printed materials, aligning layouts and palettes with merchandising and storytelling goals.
- Partner with Apparel Design to select and execute seasonal prints and yarn dyes aligned with color and merchandising strategy.
- Work with internal and external graphic designers to develop color-consistent graphic applications for inline and private-label products.
- Contribute to seasonal creative direction through color mood, conceptual palettes, and visual inspiration for product and marketing.
- Create cohesive seasonal collections with clear color stories and families, and develop presentation tools to communicate them to cross-functional partners and leadership.
- Lead and manage the color design team, allocate seasonal responsibilities, foster collaboration across product categories, and ensure cohesive execution through clear communication and cross-functional partnership.
- Manage seasonal color development calendars and ensure milestones, reviews, and handoffs meet product-development and go-to-market timelines.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision plans.
- Company-paid long-term disability.
- Employee Assistance Programs.
- 401(k) with match.
- Generous paid time off policies.
- Gear testing, perks, and more.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
