We’re Pentland Brands: a global family business behind some of the world’s most iconic active and lifestyle brands. We bring integrity, energy and ambition to our work, setting high standards and striving to deliver great outcomes without ego.

With over 1,500 team members worldwide, we’re proud of our diverse, inclusive culture where everyone is encouraged to speak up, challenge thinking, create breakthroughs and collaborate openly. Our people are what set us apart, and we’re committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

Location: Orange County, California

Hours: 36.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday (4.30pm finish on a Friday)

The Global VP Design (Speedo) Mission:

This is not just a design role. As Global VP of Design, you will be the creative heartbeat of Speedo - shaping the global design vision, aesthetic, and expression across all categories and global markets. This is a strategic, consumer-centric, and leadership-heavy position requiring creative brilliance, swimwear expertise, and the confidence to navigate a complex matrix organization, all while keeping Speedo ahead of the curve in innovation, culture, and commerciality.

Sitting on the Brand Leadership Team, you’ll craft a distinct design language that is boldly Speedo: performance-rooted, future-focused, and emotionally resonant with consumers around the world. This role leads a multidisciplinary design team while collaborating closely with marketing, merchandise, and product teams. You will champion the integration of embedded design thinking, leverage AI-powered creative tools, and harness digital design excellence.

How you'll drive success:

• Define and lead Speedo’s global creative vision and design DNA, ensuring relevance, differentiation and consistency across all consumer segments and product categories resulting in a visual identity of the brand across markets.

• Champion innovation by pushing creative and technical boundaries through partnerships with internal innovation teams to shape next-gen swimwear, racing, and lifestyle collections.

• Deliver world-class swimwear design with deep understanding of hydrodynamics, fit, materials and athlete insight.

• Create and own seasonal design direction from trend forecasting, concept development and storytelling to execution across product ranges.

• Strategically influence and partner with marketing, product, comms, and digital teams to align brand expression with business goals.

• Inspire, mentor, and manage a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team of designers, fostering a culture founded in growth mindset, collaboration, excellence, and inclusion.

• Embed design into the heart of the business to ensure consistency and creative integrity from product inception to consumer marketplace.

• Drive the implementation and adoption of generative AI tools and digital design systems to accelerate creativity, personalization, and scalability.

• Be a global ambassador for the brand, leading design direction and future vision to service and maintain key customers, markets and retail partners.

• Navigate, establish norms, and influence within a complex, matrixed global structure, balancing agility with strategic intent.

• Drive a culture of growth mindset, openness and continuous improvement across your teams and peers.

What you'll need to thrive:

• Proven experience in leading global design for a premium consumer brand, ideally in swimwear, sport, or performance fashion.

• Outstanding creative credentials, with an ability to translate cultural insight and technical innovation into iconic product.

• A track record of delivering both visionary design leadership and commercial impact.

• A global mindset with a deep understanding of global consumer segmentation, regional differences, and how to build global brands with local nuance.

• Strong experience operating in matrix organizations, with the ability to align and influence across geographies and functions.

• An entrepreneurial, agile, and solution-oriented mindset; thriving in a dynamic, fast-moving environment with a bias toward curiosity and exploration of emerging technologies.

• A natural coach and mentor; energizes and empowers others to do the best work of their lives.

• Passion for water, movement, and designing with purpose.

• 10+ years of experience in brand design, marketing design, or creative leadership roles with global exposure.

• Proven ability to influence lead dimensional design teams, while influencing cross-functionally.

• Preferred experience with AI design tools (generative design, automation platforms)

• Strong conceptual thinker with an eye for detail, brand nuance, and storytelling through product

• Comfortable navigating complex, global, matrix organizations and an ability to negotiate ambiguity within a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

The Interview Process

We want our interview process to feel clear, straightforward, and supportive. If your experience and expectations look like a strong match for the role, here’s what you can expect next:

1. Talent Team Intro Call - A 30-minute video call with our Talent Team to get to know each other, talk through the role and your experience, and answer any questions you have.

2. Experience Interview - A more in-depth interview (usually online) with the hiring manager to explore your skills, experience and approach, and how these align with the role, our principles, and our ways of working.

3. In-Person Interview - An in-person meeting at our office to continue the conversation from your experience interview. This stage may also include discussion of any task or preparation shared in advance.

4. Final Interview - A final in-person interview at our office, focused on deeper discussion and practical application, giving you the chance to meet more of the team and see Pentland Brands in action.