Designer, Cook & Dine

About Us

Earthbound is the industry's most experienced, trusted, and respected brand licensing and product design company, with a passion for creating a competitive edge through the evolution and expansion of brands. Our seasoned, innovative, and agile capabilities deliver superior results while maintaining our uncompromising values which place people first, embrace change, and act with humility and integrity. For more information, please visit www.earthboundbrands.com.

Our office is located in the Flatiron District, NYC and we are currently operating on a hybrid schedule, in office Monday through Wednesday and remote on Thursday and Friday.

About the Role

This is a hands-on design role with a strong supplier co-creation focus. You'll be the primary designer and be responsible for creating brand-right, trend forward, and saleable  hard kitchen products for multiple Walmart private label home brands, then partner closely with suppliers to bring that vision to life. You'd work closely with the Design Director and give your input on trends, concept, and aesthetic evolution for the brands and products you work on.

Your time will be split roughly 50/50. Half is original design created in house and the other half is supplier co-creation: giving clear design direction, reviewing samples and renderings, and making sure every piece lands on-brand, on-trend and on-cost. Both halves are always in service of commercial, manufacturable product.

You'll work hand in hand with the Product Development team in Bentonville and with the Walmart merchant and cross functional teams, partnering in all line reviews and alignment meetings. You'll be expected to know your market: tracking the competitive landscape, reading sales data, and proposing forward-thinking but brand-appropriate innovation.

As workload ebbs and flows, this designer may also support kitchen textiles and the broader home team.

This role reports to the Design Director.

What You'll Do

• Design original product for hard kitchen categories, including dinnerware, hard tabletop, drinkware, serve-ware, food storage and pantry org, from concept through production-ready artwork and design specs.
• Co-create with suppliers: share design direction, brainstorm on materials and processes, and build products together that meet design intent, cost targets and manufacturing realities.
• Review and redline supplier submissions - concepts, CADs, renderings, strike-offs and physical samples with specific feedback on form, proportion, color, decoration, materials, finish and function.
• Partner closely with the Product Development team in Bentonville to understand category needs, merchant strategy, execute against design briefs, and keep timelines on track.
• Represent design in alignment meetings and line reviews with the Walmart team, presenting concepts, collections and rationale clearly and confidently.
• Work with the Design Director, Product Development and sourcing partners to troubleshoot product and design issues, balancing design intent against cost, manufacturing, food-safety and packaging requirements.
• Partner with peers to keep brand continuity across multiple Walmart private label home brands, including coordination with kitchen textiles for a cohesive kitchen story.
• Monitor the competitive landscape, analyze sales data, and research new materials, finishes, decoration techniques and innovations in housewares. Use what you learn to drive proactive design proposals.
• Build trend and concept boards, line plans, spec sheets and presentation decks.
• Support kitchen textiles and other home categories as needed.

Who You Are

• A kitchen person first: you understand how hard kitchen product is made, what it costs, and what makes it sell at mass-market price points.
• Equally comfortable designing yourself and guiding a supplier's design team toward a better result.
• A strong communicator who can explain design intent precisely - in a deck, in a markup, or on a call with a factory halfway around the world.
• Passionate about design and style, with a sharp eye for what's brand-right versus merely trendy.
• Proactive and innovation-minded; you bring workable ideas to the table without being asked.
• Highly organized, detail-obsessed, and diligent about follow-up with internal teams, Walmart partners and suppliers.
• Adaptable and open to change; you study both wins and misses for clues to improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Ceramics, Surface or Textile Design, or a related field.
• 4-7 years of professional experience designing hard kitchen or housewares product that has been manufactured and sold at retail. Your portfolio should show produced product, not just concepts.
• Hands-on experience in tabletop, food storage and/or decorative kitchenware is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of hard kitchen materials and processes, such as stoneware, porcelain, glass, melamine, plastics, stainless steel, wood and bamboo, and decoration methods like decals, glazes, printing and embossing.
• Awareness of food-contact safety, packaging and set-building realities in mass-market retail.
• Experience collaborating with suppliers or manufacturers through development; direct experience with overseas factories is a plus.
• Experience with kitchen textiles (towels, oven mitts, aprons, table linens) is a plus.
• Experience working with or presenting to a major retail partner such as Walmart is a plus.
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for design and artwork, and PowerPoint for presentations. InDesign is a plus.
• 3D modeling and rendering skills (Rhino, SolidWorks or KeyShot) are a strong plus.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to Bentonville, supplier factories and trade shows.