Senior Product Developer in Bury St Edmunds

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

• Drive intake margin improvement through garment engineering and appropriate fabric selection and utilisation, to ensure best possible prices without compromising relevant quality level for the Brand.
• Drive the development process ensuring product is sampled in line with the Sourcing Strategy and sustainability goals, providing proto samples and costings to Buying team.
• Open Cost as appropriate and negotiate prices with suppliers in an ethical manner based on raw materials and construction costs along economies of scale.
• Ensure product sustainability is at the heart of the own brands and the ethos behind all our actions.
• Provide input and assist in developing and implementing new strategy and technologies, supporting roll out to teams and suppliers as appropriate.
• Manage the setup of size specs / blocks & graded size charts for all product areas, ensuring all size specs/Tech packs for development & production are issued to factories & suppliers ensuring continuity & consistency.
• Responsible for the sample fit, inspection, measurement, and comments (proto samples through to production) approving each stage of development.
• Manage fit meetings with Buying & Design, ensuring that technical packs / fit comments are sent to suppliers & factories without any delay.
• Working alongside the Buying team, drive the critical path for all orders.
• Communicate with Buying, Merchandising, Sourcing, Supply Chain and Suppliers to raise orders ensuring critical path is met.
• Manage and approve fabric testing & care label development with the Suppliers.
• Ensure approval of lab-dips and strike offs in a timely manner, referring issues to the Design and Buying team.
• Ensure product compliance in line with all relevant legislation.
• Ensure that factories follow company supplier guidelines.
• Ensure product quality meets the relevant standards.
• Work with the QC team/Warehouse to review and feedback any issues.
• Analyse KPI’s and utilise to develop continuous improvement plans.
• Generate seasonal reports as required from the PLM system.
• Conduct factory visits/warehouse trips to develop/improve production, evaluating sources for lead-time/£/Capability/location.
• Develop knowledge of production planning, line balancing and inline qc process to improve our Supplier management.
• Work with other JD departments to improve our impact, ensuring that it is positive across the business.
• Manage the Product Developer within the team ensuring appropriate process is followed and technical guidance and personal development support is provided.

Train & work on 3D Design Software to support new processes.