Textile Technologist -Education Specialist

Innovative...high-tech...revolutionary... these are just a few of the characteristics that make Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) unique. As a member of the Manufacturing USA Innovation Institute Network, AFFOA's mission is to rekindle the domestic textiles industry by leading a nationwide enterprise for advanced fiber & fabric technology development and manufacturing, enabling revolutionary system capabilities for national security and commercial market applications.

AFFOA is seeking an experienced and creative Textile Technologist with a passion for education and developing the workforce of the future, to join our multidisciplinary team. This unique and first of its kind role will be responsible for shaping how AFFOA creates synergies from our technical innovations and develops them into workforce strategies for our educational partners, all in the name of ensuring a bright future for American textile production.

The Textile Technologist - Education Specialist will be flexible, detail-oriented, and have exceptional interpersonal and technical skills, with true commitment to education and developing workforce pathways for current and future generations. In addition, this role will focus on developing strategies for ongoing growth by researching new funding opportunities, writing grants, developing proposals and white papers, and setting the pace for the future.

Our ideal candidate has a unique blend of technical expertise and educational enthusiasm with experience working in an R&D environment and on technologies or products for Department of Defense customers. To be successful in this role, the Textile Technologist - Education Specialist will work closely with other textile and product designers, engineers, our EWD team, and members of our greater ecosystem.

Responsibilities include:

• Working with multiple stakeholders to ideate fabric and product forms and develop product creation strategies.
• Utilizing design tools for ideating and producing prototypes of woven structures/fabrics with functional fibers.
• Solving problems associated with developing complex textile systems.
• Leading technical initiatives on development projects - Interacts with and supports diverse technical teams of engineers, textile designers, and technicians.
• Creating standard work and training documents for textile fabrication and products in coordination with technicians.
• Owns areas of technical development, including design and implementation of new fibers and fabric architectures and stays abreast of recent developments in technical textiles and helps to guide technical roadmap formulation and refinement.
• Responsible for technical reporting and other relevant technical collateral authoring.
• Researching new funding opportunities and grants across philanthropic, local, state, and federal levels.
• Responsible for proposal development, grant writing and submission for additional funding.
• Generates concepts for proposals, white papers, and statements of work.
• Writes proposals, white papers, and statements of work.
• Collects, analyzes, and effectively presents data for internal and external stakeholders.
• Leads new educational program implementations providing program oversight, and managing tasks to timelines, budgets, and deliverables.
• Delivers training and professional development education to various stakeholders.
• Creates and supports the dissemination of educational resources, including professional development guides.

Traits / Characteristics

• Mission driven team player
• Critical thinker and strong problem-solver
• Creative, driven, agile, and responsible
• Able to multi-task, prioritize, and resolve issues

Required Experience

• BFA in Textiles, Textile Design, Fibers, Product Design, or related field and a minimum of 5 years of related work experience or MFA in Textiles, Textile Design, Fibers, Product Design, or related field and a minimum of 3 years of related work experience.
• Direct experience solving textile integration/fabrication challenges.
• Fabric formation skills such as knitting, cut and sew, embroidery, weaving, etc.
• Understanding of research and product development process in apparel, accessories, soft goods, or industrial design, and transition to production.
• Familiarity with basic electrical principles, particularly conventional power and data transmission principles, as well as digital design and simulation.
• Experience in textile production or manufacturing in related fields. System design and development experience preferred.
• Effective communication skills including writing, speaking, and presenting.
• Analytical competency with knowledge of DOE and data analysis.
• Strong knowledge and experience using Microsoft Excel is required
• Strong understanding of educational program/project management
• Required education and training competencies include:
  • Experience and comfort with delivering hands-on learning experiences and professional development programs for a wide variety of audiences including high school students and new employees.
  • Experience developing curriculum.
  • Basic understanding of developing workforce job-skill competencies.
• Able to travel as needed.

Additional Information:

*This is a full-time, hybrid position requiring a minimum of three days on site each week at our Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters.

Work Authorization: To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be one of the following: a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., a protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.