Product Development Specialist – Sportwear Materials / Knits & Accessories

As the Product Development Specialist – Sportwear Materials / Knits & Accessories you will coordinate the development and sourcing of sportswear materials / knits & accessories. Liaising with many teams such as design and production to ensure that the designer’s vision can come to life, while maintaining a high-quality product, coordinating testing with the QA/QC teams.

Some of What You’ll Do:

• Help to translate the creative vision of Design to producible products that have the beauty envisioned by design and can be delivered at target margin and high quality.
• Coordinate development and sourcing of sportswear materials / knits & accessories on time and with accuracy (ensuring all adopted materials meet internal quality standards) 
• Prepare / place all Salesman sample mini batches, vet and communicate all lab dip requests and comments 
• Coordinate Production material hand over meeting to Material QA / QC team 
• Collaborate with Materials QA & QC Teams in testing and validation of materials / and communicating any corrective action if required
• Partner with Design / Merchandising and Production teams to ensure material development is aligned with design team’s intent while assuring margin targets
• Manage to Product Calendars and Critical Patch: to deliver completed tasks on time at each stage of the development process, take initiative when required 
• Launch and track test samples for both development and production approval
• Collect all material data sheets and required certificates at development and production stages
• Monitor quality issues thought development and production, and launch counter sourcing if required as corrective action for future seasons
• Keep abreast on new innovations (performance / sustainability / etc…) and collections from mills.  Present research and findings at weekly meetings
• Set and maintain organizational systems to ensure materials and data are easily accessible for cross functional teams
• Additional duties as may be assigned by the Manager

Some of What You’ll Need:

• At least 3 years of experience within a sportswear materials / knits & accessories role or related position 
• Knowledge of product construction required
• Experience with production, manufacturing and sourcing
• Experience with product costing is an asset
• Knowledge of line merchandising and product life cycle is an asset
• Product Development experience in outerwear is preferred
• A Degree in Design is a plus

Some of Who You Are:

• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Detail oriented and strong organization skills
• Strong time management and multitasking skills
• Ability to take initiative to achieve departmental and corporate objectives
• Ability to work as a team and maintain a high level of professionalism and discretion