TECHNICAL - PRODUCT DEVELOPER
Aim: To develop new and bespoke products to the highest possible quality, ensuring all products are risk assessed and fit for purpose, achieving price and customer delivery targets
Key Responsibilities:
- Working with Sales team & Customer services, creating design boards and new products to the team briefs, advising on technical aspects of new products to deliver technical brief, working to critical path deadlines.
- Working with the Fabric Technologist, understand the current fabric database, fabric source routes, MOQ’s and prices, to ensure appropriate fabrics are chosen for each product, working to fulfil the design & technical brief. Working alongside Fabric tech help to build a working fabric library.
- Working with the Sourcing Manager /Sourcing Director understand the current supplier base, being aware of product range, skills, and MOQ’s in order to select best supply route for each product.
- Order initial development samples from suppliers, in line with project critical path dates, providing all relevant info to enable best possible sample quality!
- Identify photography and salesman sample requirements, ordering samples from suppliers on time in line with company critical path dates.
- Request FOB costs for new and bespoke products and liaise with suppliers and sales team to achieve appropriate product price for end customer, be aware of price targets, and aim to achieve the target prices.
- Create initial development product specifications, including sketches, design details, construction details, and initial size chart.
- Carry out fit sessions on new product.
- Check and measure development samples against development specifications, understanding discrepancies and how to correct them, reporting back to suppliers and making corrections as required.
- Working with the Fabric Technologist, ensure all fabrics are selected, tested, and initially approved prior to new product introduction. Request and approve lab dips to order handover stage.
- Create packaging specifications for all new products where required, ensuring all suppliers & team members are clear and fully informed re correct packing and packaging requirements.
- Working within the team, assist in checking and approving shipment samples from suppliers against specifications and sealed samples as appropriate, reporting back to suppliers with results in line with PO shipments dates.
- Conduct Full handover packs to Technical teams to SOP requirements with detailed information to ensure smooth transition into production.
- Travel to overseas supplier’s mills and factories.
- Understand company timelines, and timelines for each project, and be able to organise workloads and work to deadlines to compile production specifications, seal samples, approve trims, to enable orders to be placed on time for customer delivery
Key Essential Skills:
- Excellent understanding of garment construction.
- Possess a good working knowledge and understanding of BS7907, BS EN 14682 etc, relating to safety of design and manufacture of children’s clothing, and be able to apply it to designs and production.
- Well organised and detailed throughout the style history to Handover.
- Able to assess colour of fabric and lab dips visually, and colour match.
- Ability to use Illustrator for design work, Outlook, Vision for specifications & task manager, Priority.