March 2023

Head of Fabric Management for global Outdoor brand

Location Germany

The Role

  • Personnel management: induction, technical and disciplinary leadership, further development & management of the Fabric Development Team.
  • Material sourcing and material management as well as coordination of fabric development with suppliers.
  • Negotiation of supply conditions (price, lead-times, MOQs) as well as ensuring compliance with deadlines.
  • Detailed design, implementation and execution of new materials as well as non-seasonal work on material projects.
  • Elaboration of KPIs of technology highlights and preparation of data and information for PM/Marketing/PR.
  • Control and optimisation of the fabric development process in close cooperation with internal interfaces and external partners.
  • Development and implementation of improvement measures in all areas of fabric development (development/quality/etc.).
  • Support in project related working groups for Innovation and Technology Apparel.
  • Responsible for providing technical product documentation and information to the sales team, PR, product management, etc.
  • Preparation and follow-up of milestone meetings in the context of collection development in coordination with the direct supervisor. In addition, control/steering of the areas of the explicitly assigned persons.
  • Working closely with the Sustainability Management team to ensure compliance and implementation of social and chemical requirements.
  • Cross-functional collaboration and support with Equipment and Footwear departments.

The Candidate

  • Completed studies in textile design, textile technology, textile management.
  • At least 7 years with similar technical responsibility and 3 years of personnel responsibility.
  • Very good knowledge of textile production processes as well as textile technical knowledge and analysis methods (especially of functional outdoor materials).
  • Very good experience in assessing product quality and supplier performance.
  • Very good knowledge of written and spoken English, knowledge of Mandarin, Korean or Japanese would be an advantage.
  • User knowledge of Microsoft Office and a product management tool.
  • Very good overview of the current state of the art and innovative products.
  • Experience in communication and negotiation with external business partners (especially from the Far East).
  • 360° view and a very good understanding of processes.
  • Passion for fabrics and materials.