Vice President, Design

Spin Master•Wilton, CT

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President, Design is responsible for the strategic leadership and execution of all aspects of design for new and carry forward products. Reporting to the President of Melissa & Doug, this role will shape and guide the creative vision for the brand. This role is required 4 days per week in our Connecticut office.

Requirements

Minimum of 20 years of experience in consumer product design with direct experience within the Toy business and owned Brands/IP.
Strong experience leading teams that drive high visibility, high impact design projects, with at least 10 years of experience managing and scaling teams, with proven mentoring and supervisory skills.
Highly skilled at collaborating with diverse teams and stakeholders to influence outcomes, drive execution and refine processes.
Proven track record of achieving KPIs in consumer product design, including product launch success, on-time delivery, cost targets and innovation pipeline performance.

Responsibilities

Leading a team of designers at all levels and responsible for the creation and execution of products for the brand(s) in addition to partnering with vendors and inventors around the world to accomplish business goals and financials.
Be the brand steward, ensuring new products deliver the Melissa & Doug brand mission, aesthetic and quality.
Serve as a key contributor in the creation of 3-year new product strategy and review and refine as needed.
Champion, inspire and lead the internal team and external partners for the invention of new products based on innovation, insight, research, consumer needs, play pattern, play value, quality, safety and inclusive design that reflects children of all diverse abilities and backgrounds.
Work with inventors and inventor relations team to evaluate submissions and reach out to the inventor and vendor community to seek out innovation.
Communicate vision for each product assigned in visual, verbal and prototype forms.
Manage designer workload, employing external resources when needed for all new product development to ensure key PD launch dates are achieved and the team are delivering on all aspects of the development process.
Partner with cross-functional teams (Engineering, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Graphic Design, Sales, Planning, Copywriting) to ensure seamless and on-time development of each project.
Partner and collaborate with both internal and external design and ID consultants and manage the development costs with all design team members to bring each product within agreed project budgets and cost targets.
Lead the growth and development of the design team by training, mentoring and coaching team members at all levels, fostering and inspiring a culture of creativity, accountability and innovation.