The Role
We are hiring a designer who has genuinely rebuilt their process around AI tooling, not someone who occasionally opens Midjourney, but someone whose ideation-to-presentation pipeline is measurably faster because of how they work.
A single client brief from us often asks for 4 to 6 complete concept directions, each with variations across the garment, the crest or logo lockup, the woven label, the hang tag, and the packaging. Then three rounds of revisions. Our design team produces excellent work; the constraint is volume and speed at the concept stage.
Your job is to break that constraint, to generate wide, generate fast, and bring taste to the selection so that what reaches the client is the strong six, not a random six.
What You'll Do
- Take creative briefs and produce 4–8 distinct concept directions, presented as client-ready decks
- Design apparel graphics, all-over prints, repeating patterns, crests, and logo lockups
- Develop headwear, packaging, hang tags, woven labels, and trim details
- Build realistic garment and product mockups for client presentation
- Prepare production-ready files and tech packs with accurate color callouts, dimensions, and print method specs
- Turn client revision notes into fast, accurate iterations
- Help the rest of the design team adopt AI tooling into their own process
What We're Looking For
Required
- 3–6 years of professional design experience in apparel, merchandise, packaging, or brand design
- A portfolio showing produced physical products, things that were actually manufactured, not just rendered
- Strong Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop fundamentals; vector work you'd hand to a screen printer without embarrassment
- Demonstrated, daily working use of AI image tools (Midjourney, Krea, Firefly, ComfyUI, or similar) integrated into a real client workflow
- Working understanding of production constraints: screen print vs. embroidery vs. sublimation, Pantone matching, print area limits, MOQs
- Ability to present and defend creative directions to clients
- Based in or willing to commute to Long Beach; this role is on-site
Nice to Have
- Tech pack authoring experience
- 3D mockup or garment simulation (Blender, CLO3D, Substance)
- Shopify or e-commerce design experience
- Streetwear, gaming, or licensed-merchandise background
- Illustration chops
We don't require a degree. A portfolio of produced work matters more to us than where or whether you studied.
Our Hiring Process
- Portfolio review and a 30-minute intro call
- Paid test project — approximately 5 hours, compensated at $400. A real brief from our archive. We'll ask for 8 concept directions, one developed to production intent, and a short walkthrough of your process and tool choices.
- On-site conversation with the design team in Long Beach
- Offer
We pay for the test project because your time has value and because we'd rather see how you actually work than talk about it.
Compensation & Benefits
- $85,000 – $110,000 annually, depending on experience
- Medical, dental, and vision through Blue Shield and Kaiser — multiple HMO and PPO plan options so you can pick what fits. Coverage begins the first of the month after 30 days.
- 401(k) with company match up to 4%
- 15 days paid time off, accrued each pay period, plus paid company holidays
- Paid sick leave
- Bi-weekly pay (26 pay periods a year)
- Annual performance reviews with a defined job-level structure and bonus eligibility tied to performance
- Company-covered AI tool subscriptions — you won't be paying for your own Midjourney seat
How to Apply
We work in an industry built on following creative direction precisely. Client briefs come with exact specs: print dimensions, Pantone callouts, placement measurements. Getting them right matters. So we've made our application a small test of the same skill.
Applications that don't follow this format will not be reviewed. This is not us being difficult; it's the first step of the evaluation.
What to send in the email body
Answer these five, numbered, in this order. No cover letter, just the answers.
- Portfolio URL. One link, publicly accessible, no password.
- One project where AI changed how you worked. Three sentences maximum. Then one more sentence on what you had to fix by hand afterward.
- Years of professional design experience, and your primary discipline. One line.
- Earliest start date, and how you'd get to our Long Beach office. One line.
- A piece of merch you didn't design that you think is excellent, and why. One or two sentences.
Please don't
- Send a cover letter
- Attach more than one file
- Follow up before two weeks have passed
We read every application that follows the format. You'll hear from us either way within two weeks.
Dotexe is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities upon request.
