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Fashion, Retail, Apparel

Studio Director/Manager, Handbags & Accessories

New York, NYOnsiteFull TimeManager / HeadPosted 1 month ago

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Required skills

  • Studio Director
  • Senior Studio Manager
  • Handbags & Accessories
  • Head of Design
  • operational right hand
  • structure
  • accountability
  • clear communication
  • highly creative environment
  • exceptional operator

Nice to have

  • PLM systems

Role summary

Veronica Beard is seeking a Studio Director/Senior Studio Manager for Handbags & Accessories to oversee the design studio's operations. This role requires strong organizational, project management, and leadership skills to manage workflows, calendars, and cross-functional communication. The ideal candidate will bring structure and accountability to a fast-paced creative environment, ensuring product and brand consistency while supporting the Head of Design. Responsibilities include leading daily operations, managing the design calendar, coordinating teams, liaising with partners like Product Development and Production, and fostering a collaborative studio culture. A deep understanding of the fashion design and product development process, with 15+ years of experience, is essential.

Studio Director / Senior Studio Manager, Handbags & Accessories

Company: Veronica BeardReports to: Head of Design

Position Overview

Veronica Beard is seeking a highly organized, solutions-oriented Studio Director / Senior Studio Manager to serve as the operational right hand to the Head of Design to Handbags & Accessories. This leader will oversee the day-to-day rhythm of the design studio, bringing structure, accountability, and clear communication to a fast-paced, highly creative environment.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional operator and people leader who understands the product design process from concept through final adoption. They will manage workflows and calendars, coordinate teams and deliverables, strengthen cross-functional communication, and help ensure consistency across categories. This role is critical to keeping the studio organized, focused, and moving forward while enabling the Head of Design and creative teams to do their best work.

Key Responsibilities

Studio Operations and Organization

  • Lead the day-to-day operations of the design studio, establishing clear processes, priorities, and ways of working.
  • Serve as the central point of coordination for the studio, proactively identifying needs, resolving roadblocks, and ensuring the team is prepared for key milestones.
  • Create and maintain organizational systems that support accuracy, visibility, and accountability across the design process.
  • Anticipate challenges and propose practical solutions that balance creative priorities with business needs and deadlines.

    • Workflow and Calendar Management

  • Own and manage the master design calendar, including key dates, reviews, fittings, handoffs, approvals, and seasonal milestones.
  • Drive calendar discipline across the studio by clarifying deadlines, tracking deliverables, and following up to ensure commitments are met.
  • Manage competing priorities and adjust workflows as business or creative needs evolve.
  • Facilitate regular status meetings, document decisions and action items, and ensure timely follow-through.

    • Team Coordination and Leadership

  • Coordinate work across design teams and categories, ensuring teams have the information, materials, and direction needed to deliver on time.
  • Foster a collaborative, respectful, and accountable studio culture.
  • Provide clear communication and operational guidance to the team while supporting effective workload planning.
  • Partner with design leadership to identify resource needs, improve team effectiveness, and support the development of studio talent.

    • Cross-Functional Partnership

  • Act as the primary operational liaison between Design and cross-functional partners, including Product Development, Merchandising, Production, Technical Design, Fabric/R&D, and other key teams.
  • Create clear channels for communication, decision-making, and escalation across functions.
  • Ensure changes, approvals, risks, and priorities are communicated promptly and consistently to all relevant partners.
  • Build strong relationships across the organization and help align creative vision with commercial and operational requirements.

    • Product and Brand Consistency

  • Help ensure cohesion and consistency across all product categories, maintaining visibility to the full seasonal assortment and design direction.
  • Coordinate cross-category reviews and flag inconsistencies, gaps, or overlaps for design leadership.
  • Oversee the organization, accuracy, and timely distribution of color cards and related seasonal materials.
  • Support alignment on color, fabrication, print, and design details across categories while maintaining the integrity of the Veronica Beard brand.

    • Partnership with the Head of Design

  • Serve as a trusted thought partner and operational right hand to the Head of Design.
  • Translate creative direction and leadership priorities into clear plans, timelines, and team actions.
  • Prepare agendas, materials, and follow-ups for key design reviews and milestone meetings.
  • Protect the Head of Design’s time by streamlining communication, surfacing decisions, and ensuring the studio remains focused on the highest-priority work.

    • Qualifications

  • 15+ years of experience in fashion design operations, studio management, product development, or a related function, with meaningful leadership responsibility.
  • Deep understanding of the seasonal fashion design and product-development process, including calendars, reviews, approvals, and cross-functional handoffs.
  • Demonstrated success managing complex workflows, multiple product categories, and overlapping seasonal timelines.
  • Exceptional organizational, project-management, and prioritization skills, with strong attention to detail.
  • Highly effective communicator who can create clarity, build alignment, and influence across creative and business teams.
  • Calm, proactive, and solutions-oriented, with the judgment to anticipate issues and resolve them quickly.
  • Strong leadership and relationship-building skills, with the ability to hold teams accountable while fostering collaboration.
  • Proficiency with relevant project-management, calendar, and product-lifecycle tools; experience with PLM systems is strongly preferred.
  • Experience within a contemporary or luxury fashion brand is preferred.

    • At Veronica Beard, we are committed to creating and maintaining a workplace where every single employee can thrive and feel valued. As a company, we firmly believe that there is strength in diversity. We seek to recruit talent from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds and are actively seeking candidates with a dedication to advancing equity, inclusion, and racial and social justice in their work.

    Veronica Beard is committed to an environment of mutual respect and is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer. No employee or applicant is discriminated against because of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

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