Materials Developer

The Role:
To drive the development and commercialization of Footwear upper materials and trims from seasonal material brief hand-off to Tech 1 and Ready to Buy (RTB) approval for all UGG products to elevate upper material executions in creating world class performance Footwear. Provide professional support and technical expertise as well as UGG brand specific knowledge to both US and Asia partners to support the brand’s seasonal and long-term goals.
Responsibilities:
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: List in order of importance, the 5 essential job functions and estimate
the percentage of time spent on each. Total must equal 100%.
- OPERATIONS AND DELIVERY (65%)
• Drive all material development activities to ensure products meet the brand & consumer needs, are developed and successfully engineered for mass production at or exceeding target margins and defined quality.
• Ensure on-time completion of all product samples and with good sample quality.
• Ensure clear & concise communication to relevant stakeholders including overseas partners.
• Drive early-stage material selection by working with US Materials, PD, Design and PLM teams to help define the material needs based on the seasonal trends, product requirements and brand goals.
• Align with the US Materials team on project strategy and needs to support the handoff of material tech packs to suppliers.
• Ensure all seasonal and project material needs are clearly communicated to the Asia Development teams by working in collaboration with US Material team.
• Partner with US materials team to develop new materials or customize existing ones to meet specific design and product needs.
• Provide technical support to both US and Asia Development and Engineering teams to address issues as they arise related to material application and performance.
• Responsible for resolving day-to-day issues with suppliers such as pattern revisions, on-time delivery, material testing, quality and performance.
• Collaborate with US Material Development teams to review material samples during development, with the Asia material developer overseeing physical check in on site with the factories and providing feedback to US material development team.
- COLLABORATION AND TEAM BUILDING (20%)
• Develop and maintain productive, effective and professional relationships with peers, superiors, factories, and others. Always represent the company in a positive and supportive manner.
• Work closely with functional departments within the BU (such as costing, factory planning, fit, mold lead) and the central functions outside the BU (such as SCOE, PST,RTB, Bottoms Team, Lab & Innovation).
• Facilitate communication & collaboration with key stakeholders including US Development, Engineering, Design, Merchandising and UGG Asia departments both within and outside the Business Units to drive decision-making and problem solving.
• Be a trusted partner of Development, Commercialization, Engineering, Material Development, QA, Production, US HQ and Business Unit leaders.
- PROCESSES AND BEST PRACTICES (10%)
• Identify improvement opportunities and work with leadership to implement Best Practices and process enhancements in all areas of the Development cycle.
• Partner with US Materials to develop seasonal and core material and color palettes for all upper materials and components.
• Align with brand sustainability initiatives and metrics while exploring sustainable options with material suppliers.
- TRAINING (5%)
• Travel to factories, suppliers, and US HQ as necessary.
• Proactively seek, evaluate and understand new materials, components, technologies, products and methods of make relevant to the industry and share insights with the US material team to influence material strategies moving forward.
• Attend training classes, workshops, conferences and summits to acquire and enhance relevant technical skills.

Bonus

Material Development, Footwear Industry, Environmental Sustainability, Material Samples, Product Quality Management