Kari Traa - Head of Design

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Kari Traa are passionate about the outdoors, about supporting the incredible communities of women getting out there and about sharing the delights of their Norwegian heritage. Kari Traa is the bad ass friend that lifts everyone around her!

The brand was launched internationally in 2006 and is now firmly established in North America and thirty other countries. Global sales reached $60m in 2022 and projected North American sales of $12m for 2023, with further growth predicted over the years to come.

Headquartered in Oslo in Norway, we are a brand proudly run by women, for women.

Active Brands is a fast-growing house of premium Sports Apparel and Equipment Brands that in addition to Kari Traa also houses Dahlie, Sweet Protection, Johaug, Bula, Åsnes, and Vossatassar.

At Kari Traa we have a vision: A world where every woman has the desire, confidence, and clothing to thrive in the outdoors together. We design our clothing and build our marketing efforts to empower women everywhere to be unapologetically themselves, no matter where their adventures take them. We weren’t just founded by anyone, we were founded by Norwegian 3 X Olympian medalist Kari Traa, who changed the game for women everywhere when it came to competing with the boys in sports. Kari Traa is not just an icon; she’s why we’re here today.

The role
As Head of Design, you have a central place in the Kari Traa brand’s growth and development. The overall responsibility for the role is to create inspiring, commercial, and on-trend collections which align with the company's overall strategy and capture our consumers' needs into the future. Based on strategic decisions about international growth, you are responsible for ensuring that our collections are commercially viable in local markets, not least in North America, always remaining authentic to our Norwegian heritage. In addition to a team of three designers, for whom you have personnel responsibility, your main points of contact will be General Manager Kari Traa, Purchasing Manager and Product Manager. You will report to the Product Creation and Development Director.

Key tasks

• Lead the creative vision of the brand.
• Ensure distinctive and forward-looking collections that reflect brand values and prioritizing innovation and market trends.
• Collaborate with Product Manager and Demand Planner to understand market insights, sales data and customer feedback.
• Stay updated on industry trends, technological advancements, and design innovations relevant to the sports apparel market.
• Create and present mood boards and inspirational material for the style and look of season collections.
• Travel to fairs, trade shows and local markets to stay up to date with our competition and market trends.
• Team Management: Ensure capacity, quality, and well-being for your team.

Your profile
We are looking for a commercial and creative mind with passion for the apparel and sports industry, ideally taking part in the activities we design for. Above your strong creative skills and your knowledge on how to design commercial clothing, is your ability to move forward, take action and collaborate and agree with your team as well as with other functions within the brand, to make things happen. Your professional and personal qualifications in short:

• Agrees with and understands the brand DNA and core values.
• Strong creative vision and ability to translate market trends into innovative and appealing designs.
• In-depth knowledge of apparel construction, materials, and manufacturing processes.
• Deep understanding of target market preferences, fashion trends and industry dynamics on an international basis and preferably from North America.
• Inspirational, guiding, and inclusive leadership.
• Strong business acumen, an understanding for the relationship between design and commercial success and a desire to get there.
• Experienced computer and system user.
• Willing to relocate to Oslo, Norway.
• Willing to travel approx. 30 days/year.

What’s in it for you
Except from a very exciting and desirable job, we offer you an inspiring and active work environment, with dedicated co-workers with a strong passion for the brand. In addition, you get exposed to career and development opportunities within Active Brands.

Contact and Application. Infinity is successful in recruiting excellence to culturally strong
companies and our partner in this recruitment. For more information, please contact Emil Nilsson, ph. +46 705591192 or Mårten Näsvall, on e-mail: marten.nasvall@infinityhr.se.

First interviews will be held starting in mid-October. Case tasks and candidate assessments might be used during the recruitment process.

Please apply in English using the form below!