Copy of Careers | Next Step Group

CAREERS

Graphic Designer

Location: New York, New York

Job Description
We are looking for a Graphic Designer to join our company. As our Graphic Designer, you will help us create visually appealing and technically accurate designs for our footwear products and related visual materials, while supporting our product development, brand identity, packaging, marketing initiatives, and overall business growth. This is a full-time position with benefits, where the successful candidate will have a significant impact on our operations and can become a key player on the team.

About the Company
Next Step Group Inc., founded in 1998, is a domestic corporation positioned within the fashion footwear industry, specializing in the wholesale and retail distribution of lifestyle footwear.

Next Step Group is an established fashion footwear company with over two decades of industry experience. We operate multiple in-house brands that we manufacture abroad and sell to wholesalers, as well as directly to retail consumers on e-commerce platforms. Our products are designed to combine comfort, quality, functionality, and contemporary fashion, serving different consumer groups across the footwear market.

Next Step Group offers a diverse portfolio of lifestyle footwear brands, including Cover Girl, Cushionaire, Jazzberry, and New Twist. Cover Girl is a brand taking steps toward a stylish future since 1957 and is known for its quality and hip hotness. Cushionaire is designed for the active woman who wants a modern fashion look from day to night without giving up comfort. Jazzberry features the latest European trends at all-American prices for the young and forever young. New Twist is a well-respected collection of modern classics.

Through years of business operations, Next Step Group has developed strong capabilities in product development, sourcing, market-driven design, wholesale distribution, retail sales, and e-commerce operations. By collaborating closely with domestic and international manufacturing partners, we are able to respond efficiently to changing consumer trends and bring footwear products from concept through production and market distribution.

The philosophy behind Next Step Group is rooted in celebrating contemporary fashion while emphasizing quality, functionality, and consistent comfort. Every shoe embodies thoughtful design, careful product development, and a commitment to bringing commercially viable footwear collections to retailers and consumers alike.

As a successful business, we understand that the footwear industry is crowded and competitive. Especially in recent years, the retail and wholesale markets have been driven by rapidly shifting consumer demands, strong brand competition, and complex global supply chains. Accordingly, standing out from competitors through innovative visual concepts, precise design layouts, strong brand identity, and effective product presentation has become an urgent and challenging task for every company in our industry.

To continue growing in this competitive market, Next Step Group needs professional graphic design support throughout the product development lifecycle. Graphic design allows us to translate creative concepts into manufacturable, cost-efficient, and commercially viable footwear products. It also helps us communicate product ideas, define construction details, illustrate colorways and materials, coordinate packaging graphics, support vendor communication, and maintain a consistent visual identity across our footwear collections.

We are confident that, based on our established business platform, in-house brands, sourcing capabilities, wholesale channels, e-commerce presence, and product development experience, Next Step Group will continue to achieve considerable business success in the fashion footwear industry.

The Position
Our Graphic Designer is mainly responsible for creating, developing, refining, and presenting visually appealing and technically accurate designs for our footwear products and related visual materials, thereby supporting our product development, brand execution, packaging design, e-commerce presentation, vendor communication, and overall market competitiveness, which are critical factors for our continued success in the fashion footwear industry.

Key Responsibilities

Conceptualizing and creating visually appealing and technically accurate designs for a wide range of footwear products and related visual materials, including but not limited to CAD renderings, colorways, material layouts, construction details, packaging mockups, line sheets, and product presentation graphics, to support our footwear product development and brand execution.

Collaborating closely with company leadership, product development teams, merchandising teams, and production teams to understand collection goals, brand direction, target consumer preferences, seasonal product initiatives, and market positioning, then developing compelling visual concepts that communicate the design intent, functional features, and commercial appeal of our footwear collections.

Evaluating the visual and practical impact of footwear design concepts, sample prototypes, customer-facing product graphics, and related presentation materials, then providing design-based and data-informed recommendations to improve aesthetic quality, marketability, manufacturability, cost efficiency, and alignment with our brand positioning.

Creating, updating, and maintaining our brand guidelines, visual templates, and design systems to ensure stylistic consistency across footwear collections, product graphics, packaging materials, presentation boards, e-commerce visuals, line sheets, promotional materials, and other printed and digital collateral.

Utilizing professional design software and technologies, including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, CAD-based design tools, and other relevant design platforms, to produce high-quality digital and production-ready assets for footwear concepts, material specifications, color studies, construction graphics, packaging mockups, and other product development documentation.

Designing and refining detailed footwear graphics and technical visual materials to support the development of commercially viable products, including the preparation of CAD-based design revisions, material and color updates, construction details, visual specifications, and product presentation materials that help guide prototype development and production execution.

Reviewing, refining, and presenting design concepts, technical layouts, CAD illustrations, packaging drafts, and final visual materials to company leadership, product development staff, merchandising teams, and other related decision-makers for review and approval prior to sampling or production, ensuring that all visual materials meet our branding standards, design objectives, and product requirements.

Analyzing sample feedback, construction issues, material performance, internal product development data, manufacturing requirements, and vendor communications to create revised visual layouts, specification updates, technical graphics, and presentation materials that help improve product quality, support cost efficiency, and facilitate effective communication with domestic teams and international manufacturing partners.

Researching market trends in the fashion footwear industry, including competitor products, consumer preferences, color trends, material directions, lifestyle footwear developments, packaging trends, e-commerce presentation strategies, and broader design innovations, to continuously enhance our visual strategy and ensure our footwear collections remain relevant and competitive in the marketplace.

Requirements

Education requirement: Must have a bachelor’s degree or higher in Graphic Design or a related field.

Experience: Must have at least two years of previous professional experience in graphic design, fashion design, footwear design, product development design, visual communication, packaging design, CAD-based design, or a related design field.

Work authorization: Must have work authorization in the United States. If needed, we also sponsor H-1B applications.

Rate of Pay
$85,000.00 per year, with benefits.

How to Apply
All interested candidates should send a resume, portfolio, and cover letter via email to: hr@nextstepgroup.com. The cover letter should explain why the candidate would be a good fit for this position and how the candidate’s education, design background, software skills, product development experience, and visual communication ability can support Next Step Group’s footwear product development, brand identity, packaging, and market growth.