Product Development Specialist

Margaret Howell is a contemporary British clothing designer who has worked successfully in men’s and women’s clothing for over five decades. Today, Margaret Howell clothes are sold worldwide with 12 own shops in Europe, over 70 outlets in Japan and an established online business.

Location: Head office, W1/Remote

Hours: Full-time - 35 hours, Monday - Friday

Key Responsibilities:

• Liaise between designers and suppliers to develop the collection in line with the Critical Path.
• Advise on cost, MOQ and supplier capability, to ensure final product appropriateness for buy.
• Main point of contact for all woven and accessories suppliers (based in Italy, UK, Portugal and Japan), cultivating strong relationships.
• Accountable for the delivery of all samples in line with the season’s critical path, including design packs and BOM, and providing relevant data on product clarity to other departments.
• Liaison with Company’s own Shirtline manufacturing unit for PD, working directly with Senior Pattern Cutter to produce range of Mainline shirts.
• Undertake all garment fitting sessions for the product, ensuring garments are measured, providing technical fitting notes, and providing clear communication to suppliers.
• Attend seasonal review meetings for the range, ensuring all product, pricing and other relevant information is available for review, advising on relevant supplier issues to design & merchandising.
• Assist on sustainability initiatives.
• Manage price negotiations with suppliers, monitoring fabric costs, MOQ and surcharges for sampling, and liaising with merchandising on style adaptations, to achieve the target cost price.
• Monitoring and clearly communicating changes to cost prices.
• Ensure accurate records are maintained on ERP and PLM for all product information and sample orders.
• Organise and undertake trips to suppliers for design fitting purposes.
• Provide full and accurate hand over to production team.
• Assist with other tasks as required by Product Development Manager.

Role Requirements:

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in Product Development, with a background in multi-category product.
• Strong technical knowledge: understanding garment fitting and construction, especially relating to finishing and technical construction of tailoring and premium garments.
• Confident in building relationships with suppliers, with excellent communication skills.
• Ability to source, negotiate and manage relationships.
• Proficiency using different systems including Microsoft Office, PLM and ERP.
• Understanding sustainability and ethical compliance, and driven to meet targets.
• Accomplished at pricing negotiation, understanding costings and working within a budget.
• Excellent attention to detail, time management and organisation skills.
• Can work under pressure and manage multiple priorities quickly and accurately.
• Good verbal and written knowledge of Italian preferred but not mandatory.

Rewards:

• A competitive salary (from £38,000).
• 5 weeks holiday plus bank holidays, increasing to 6 weeks with service.
• Generous clothing allowance.
• Significant staff discount.
• Life insurance.
• Contributory pension and salary exchange scheme.
• Personal development grant.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Birthday day off.
• Volunteering day off.
• IVF support for parents.
• Opportunity to request flexible working (27% of Head Office employees work part-time hours).
• Menopause friendly.

We actively implement blind recruitment practices to eliminate bias and ensure a fair evaluation of candidates based on their skills, experience, and qualifications. We believe in creating a level playing field for all applicants, and our initiatives reflect our dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Applications will be considered as they are received. Candidates will be shortlisted based on how their skills and experience match our requirements as set out above.