Technical Designer

The Fit Technician role is key to developing and producing a top-quality product at a competitive cost for the company. Technical Designers should inspire innovation within construction/fit and work closely with product development to collectively make great apparel. This person must embody a balance of hard and soft skills needed to scale the department for growth: oversee grade standards, monitor vendor quality/consistency, fit cadence to ensure calendar dates are met and facilitate individual development plans within the team. Duties / Responsibilities: · Guides and monitors the fit process to ensure “intended fit” is met. · Proactive approach to QC and evaluates potential QC issues pre-season and again at sample stages. · Attending and leading fit sessions to relay fit comments to our overseas factories and ensure it is accurately executed. · Involved in the final development stage of the products daily, checking the garments' fitting, measurements, and workmanship. · Communicates daily with domestic & international vendors to supplement sourcing strategy, enhancing respected relationships for combined growth. · Assesses vendor base performance related to fits to allocate appropriately based on strengths and quality. · Tracks fit evolutions from factories. · Works to improve fit and quality through review of customer’s comments, sales feedback, and understanding of competition. · Collaborate with the merchandising team to analyze return rate reports and enhance carry-over products if necessary. · Work closely with the Designer to ensure great-fitting products reflect the design intent. · Create and maintain technical packages in company standard format with data accuracy in a neat and organized manner. · Send tech packs to the corresponding vendors, including detailed garment measurements, construction, and BOM. · Responsible for sending clear fit comments with illustrations to factories from 1st fit through TOP. · Execute fit comments in a timely manner to ensure the fit sample review process stays on time with production timelines. · Spec garments before all fittings. Take and track notes to ensure final fit, quality, and construction meets brand quality standards. · Cross-examine the sample against style Tech Pack and previous fit samples to ensure comments have been corrected. · Perform accurate measurements to ensure size grading standards are within tolerance levels for specific fabric types. · Participate in fit sessions by fitting on a live model, recording comments, and communicating with the team and vendors. · Maintain a shared file of all fit tech packs for design and production. · Track and monitor execution to time-and-action calendar; record and track all packages, track fit and pre-production (PP) samples or other reference samples as required; keep an archive of fit samples. · Analyze fit, construction, and workmanship issues and accurately communicate all PP and TOP corrects to factories overseas. Qualifications/ Skills: · Minimum 5 years of experience in fabrics and garment construction · Minimum 5 years of experience in technical design and product development · Minimum 5 years of experience in patterns. · Minimum 5 years of experience in communicating with vendors overseas is required. · Minimum 5 years of experience in Global markets regarding fit conversion, grade, and size charts. · Degree in tech design, pattern-making, and equivalent work experience. · Expertise in understanding fit, patterns, construction, measuring and evaluating samples, materials, workmanship, function, and production feasibility. · Knowledge of benchmarking fit and quality standards against other key competitors to ensure best-in-class fit and construction. · Detail-oriented with experience prioritizing and managing multiple tasks efficiently. · Excellent Problem-solving skills. · Must be team-oriented, open to taking direction, and able to work well under pressure. · This role requires an experienced sourcing professional in the apparel industry with extensive knowledge of product development, production, and quality assurance. · Ability to develop & implement strategies according to plans, monitor progress, and make the necessary adjustments to achieve objectives. · Exceptional time management and organizational skills with the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced and changing environment. Strong planning skills with expertise in multitasking. · Computer Skills: Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, especially Microsoft 365. · A strong written and verbal ability to establish trustworthy and durable relationships with suppliers and colleagues.