What are the responsibilities and job description for the Freelance Designer position at OZMA?
OZMA makes women’s elevated basics, essential pieces focused on sustainability, quality, fit, and fabric. The creative direction comes from our founder, who leads design across knits, wovens, denim, and tees. This role is not about building a vision from scratch. It is about receiving a strong creative starting point and knowing exactly how to push it further, finding the right fabrication, refining the silhouette, identifying the detail that makes it land. It's about being a collaborative design partner.
You must have strong knowledge in knits, ideally of Peruvian yarns. This role requires deeper PD involvement in the sweater category.
What You Will Do
- Receive creative direction from the founder on knits, wovens, denim, and tees and execute with precision and point of view
- Identify trend-right silhouettes, fabrications, color, and details that sharpen the founder’s starting point
- Own sweater design and PD end to end: yarn sourcing, gauge, construction, tech packs, fit comments, and factory communication
- Source fabrics and yarns independently with sustainability as a non-negotiable filter
- Produce clean sketches and specs across all categories
- Work within a small team: founder, Head of Production, Product Developer, patternmakers, and Tech Designer
Required
- 8 years in women’s apparel, minimum 2 years in a mid-senior design role
- Background in elevated or contemporary basics
- Strong technical execution across wovens, cut-and-sew knits, and denim
- Deep knowledge of sustainable materials, fiber certifications, and responsible sourcing
- Able to source fabrics and yarns independently
- Portfolio that shows editing and restraint, not trend volume
Sweaters — Required, Not Preferred
- You must be able to own sweater design and PD independently. This means yarn sourcing, gauge and construction knowledge, tech pack writing, and direct factory communication. Candidates without this depth will not be considered.
You Are a Fit If
- You thrive both when given a strong direction to build on and can also ideate collaboratively or independently
- You can receive feedback without friction and execute revisions quickly
- You are as comfortable writing a tech pack as you are in a concept conversation
- You understand sustainability at a sourcing level, not just a marketing one
- Small, founder-led environments feel energizing, not limiting
- You can be in our Frogtown studio regularly