■Recruitment Background:
Under the slogan “YOUR FREEDOM: The freedom to reinvent yourself,” GU offers fashion that everyone can enjoy, leveraging its strengths in trends, price, and speed.
In 2026, Francesco Risso—who has earned global acclaim—will assume the role of Creative Director at GU. Building on the manufacturing foundation GU has cultivated, the brand is stepping into its next phase, driven by a clearer creative vision and the development of high-quality products.
Even amidst prerequisites such as mass-production feasibility, reproducibility, and price-to-value ratios, there is a greater demand than ever for planning, development, and design capabilities that view these constraints not as limitations but as new challenges, and successfully bring products to market.
Within the R&D organization, you will work closely with related departments such as Merchandising, Production, and Material Development. Building on a deep understanding of pricing, costs, and production contexts, you will be responsible for enhancing product quality without compromising the creative vision.

■ Department Overview:
GU’s R&D Department is a product development organization dedicated to bringing the brand message “YOUR FREEDOM” to life through our products. It comprises designers and patternmakers from all departments selling at GU—including Men’s, Women’s, Kids, and Merchandise—who work tirelessly every day to deliver fashion that all customers can enjoy worldwide.
We handle everything from market and trend research to material selection, specification design, and product development with mass production in mind. While prioritizing price, quality, and speed, we deliver products that balance fashion and practicality to customers around the world.

■Job Description:
In this position, as a Women’s Patternmaker, you will play a key role in bringing the stories and concepts behind the designs to life under a new creative structure, balancing comfort, structure, and mass-production feasibility.
Main Responsibilities
・Pattern design based on a thorough understanding of the designer’s intent and vision
・Exploring trendy silhouettes and new design balances (including materials, construction, and proportions)
・Verifying silhouettes and proposing improvements through toile creation and fittings
・Creating pattern specifications and sewing instructions with production in mind
・Collaboration with overseas production sites and related departments (Design, MD, Production)
・Size design and ensuring mass-production suitability with a focus on global expansion
Target items include categories such as outerwear, bottoms, shirts, knitwear, innerwear, and loungewear; however, upon joining the company, your specific item category will be determined based on your area of expertise.

・The Job Description may change within the scope of duties related to various headquarters departments due to department transfers or organizational changes.

■ Career Path
Depending on your aspirations and aptitude, there are diverse career opportunities available as a patternmaker, including changes within the Women’s division, rotations to different gender and age groups such as Men’s and Kids, and future career development at global locations.

■ Required Knowledge/Skills/Experience
・3+ years of experience in patternmaking for women’s apparel
・Experience with apparel-specific CAD software
・Ability to actively gather market and media information and apply it to pattern-making work

■Desirable Knowledge/Skills/Experience
・At least 2 years of experience in grading
・Experience using English for internal tasks such as email correspondence and creating simple documents

*During the selection process, you may be asked to submit design sketches or samples of your work

■Company Name: GU Co., Ltd.

■Employment Type: Contract Employee (Fixed-term contract with a 3-month probationary period)
(Depending on performance and evaluations during the first year of the contract period, if you meet our criteria for regular employment, we will consider hiring you as a regular employee starting from the second year.)
* The contract for fixed-term employment will expire after one year and will not be renewed.
* If you are not hired as a regular employee, the employment contract will terminate upon the expiration of the contract term

■Annual Salary
・Annual Salary Range: 4.25–8.64 million yen (Monthly Salary: 280,000–540,000 yen)
・Allowances: Commuting allowance, overtime allowance, etc. (※All subject to company regulations)
・Bonuses: Semi-annual bonuses twice a year, year-end bonus (eligibility and amount determined based on company performance and performance evaluation)
・Promotions twice a year (determined based on performance evaluations)
*Salary will be determined based on company regulations, taking into account your previous annual income and experience, and is not limited to the figures listed above.

■ Working Hours
Either standard working hours or a flex-time system
(Determined based on job duties, expected role, and assigned department; details will be provided during the final interview)

・Standard Work Hours System
8 hours of actual work and 1-hour break between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM

・Flexible Work Hours System
Standard daily working hours: 8 hours; Break: 1 hour
Core hours: 9:00 AM–2:00 PM
Flexible hours: 6:00 AM–9:00 AM and 2:00 PM–8:00 PM (Overtime work may be required)

■ Holidays and Leave
Two days off per week (Saturdays and Sundays) Annual paid leave, special leave (including bereavement leave), childcare and nursing care leave systems, etc.
*Whether public holidays are also considered days off in addition to the days off listed above will be specified individually in the contract for part-time employees
*In addition to paid leave, special leave is granted in the first and second halves of the year (the number of days granted varies depending on employment status and the company to which the employee belongs)

■Insurance Coverage
Social Insurance (Health Insurance, Employees' Pension Insurance, Employment Insurance, Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance)

■ Employee Benefits
Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Mutual Aid Association, Partnered Welfare Programs, Employee Discount Program, Cafeteria, Dedicated Shuttle Bus (for commuting to the Ariake Office), Defined Contribution Pension Plan (Full-time employees only)

■Other
・We actively recruit mid-career professionals across our group companies (Fast Retailing, UNIQLO, GU, etc.). We would appreciate it if you could review the information below and consider applying.
- You may apply to multiple companies within the Fast Retailing Group simultaneously. However, please note that even if the selection process proceeds at multiple companies, you can only advance to the final selection stage for one position at a time.
- Based on your submitted resume and interview evaluations, we may suggest other positions or companies within the Fast Retailing Group.

・Measures against secondhand smoke: Smoking is generally prohibited on the premises and indoors, and we do not have designated smoking rooms. (Smoking is prohibited during working hours, including break times.)

Ariake Headquarters: 1-6-7 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, UNIQLO CITY
*Your location may be changed to a location designated by the company, including overseas locations.