Product Design & Development Associate (fixed-term contract)

About the Role & Team

As Product Design & Development Associate, you will join the Disney Consumer Products team in Türkiye, supporting the creation of compelling, commercially relevant products across fashion categories. Working closely with the Senior Product Development Manager, licensees and internal partners across creative, category, franchise and brand merchandising teams, you will help bring Disney stories and characters to life through high-quality, trend-led product development across direct-to-retail and licensing models.

This role is a great opportunity for someone with a strong eye for design, consumer trends and product details, who enjoys collaborating with others to develop products that connect with our audiences and support the growth of Disney’s brands.

Please include a Portfolio to your application, this can be in the form of an attachment or link in the CV.

This is a 1-year contract role, based in our Istanbul, Türkiye office, with an expectation to work onsite four days per week.

Values

You’ll join a team grounded in our Disney values, acting with Integrity, welcoming everyone through Inclusion, embracing boundless Creativity, working together through Collaboration and caring deeply for our Community. These values shape how we work and how we support one another every day.

What You Will Do

• Research consumer, competitor, product and design trends, including broader pop culture influences, and translate insights into relevant product opportunities across Disney franchises and categories.

• Support the development of mood boards, product mock-ups, basic pitch materials and 2D/3D concepts, bringing together trend insights, creative assets and style guide direction.
• Provide product design, trend and brand guidance to licensees on artwork and product submissions, helping improve quality while applying manager feedback and direction.
• Help licensees access and apply the correct Disney creative assets, brand guidelines, property information and approval systems to support responsible, high-quality product development.
• Coordinate product submissions through Disney’s Online Product Approval process, ensuring accurate routing, timely progression and alignment with global product integrity requirements.
• Identify potential risks, inconsistencies or workflow improvements within product submissions and escalate or share recommendations as appropriate.
• Build positive working relationships with licensees and internal partners across commercial, creative and product teams, communicating clearly to support brand and commercial alignment.
• Support regional, local and global projects through design tasks, visual preparation, market research and product development administration.
• Continue to develop knowledge of Disney’s characters, films, franchise heritage and creative assets to help create products that are authentic, appealing and commercially relevant.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Minimum two years’ experience in product design, product development, fashion, licensing, retail or a related creative/commercial field.
• Strong creative eye with an understanding of product, graphic and consumer trends, and the ability to translate insights into commercially relevant product concepts.
• Good conceptual and design skills, including awareness of materials, fabrics, colour, form, production techniques and graphic applications relevant to product development.
• Able to create and communicate clear design briefs, basic concepts and product ideas using digital tools, CAD, Adobe Creative Suite or third-party design resources.
• Confident interpreting and applying brand guidelines, creative assets and style guides to support consistent, high-quality product development.
• Clear communicator who can present design ideas, provide considered first-line feedback and collaborate effectively with licensees and internal stakeholders.
• Organised and detail-focused, with the ability to manage multiple product submissions, identify risks or inconsistencies, and keep work moving through approval systems accurately and on time.
• Able to prioritise, manage time well and deliver product design and development tasks within defined timelines in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Comfortable learning and using new systems, processes and tools to support evolving business needs and product approval workflows.
• Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Microsoft Office; Mac OSX experience is beneficial.
• Fluent written and spoken English and Turkish for business; additional European languages are beneficial.
• Culturally aware, with an understanding of EMEA markets, particularly Türkiye and Greece, and how local consumer needs can shape product development.
• Retail or direct-to-retail experience is beneficial.

The Perks

• 25 days annual leave
• Private medical insurance & dental care
• Free Park Entry: You will have the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free
• Disney Discounts: you are entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing
• Excellent parental and guardian leave
• Employee Resource Groups – WOMEN @ Disney, Disney Mosaic, Disney PRIDE, our disability & neurodiversity focused group - ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.