Raw Material Manager

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Raw Material Development Manager is responsible for the development of all Tiger of Sweden fabrics and trims in line with the creative vision, commercial needs, business health KPI’s and Tiger of Sweden sustainability targets whilst maintaining and revitalizing existing continuity lines to meet requirements.

They have in depth knowledge of fabric construction, finishes, and costing across all product groups and the global supply chain to confidently fulfill the creative and commercial briefs.

They will work closely with the raw materials suppliers and head of product development to execute the briefs shared at the start of each project and troubleshoot during the development process to ensure products are suitable for end use.

Fabric development

Responsible for designing and developing raw materials that are fit for purpose, the customer, the brand and meet the gross margin.

Be the business lead for R&D of new fabrics and technologies, concepts, and future ideas.

Support, educate, and inspire staff at Tiger of Sweden regarding fabric choice and new innovations.

Arrange and lead trips to mills and trade fairs.

Negotiate lead times and minimums with fabric suppliers from development through to bulk.

Technical excellence

Build and maintain a close working partnership with the Design Team to translate ideas into products and effectively communtcating these ideas to mills and suppliers.

Provide feedback on technical feasibility, brainstorming ideas and solutions to ensure the vision is translated into product.

Establish and maintain a good relationships with fabric suppliers; including working knowledge of their capability and supply chain to meet demands.

Timeline creation and management

Plan, coordinate and execute the raw material timing for all projects from brief stage to bulk, in partnership with the Head of Product Development.

Ensure adhereance to the critical path for design and suppliers to secure deadlines. Identify and mitigate any risks or challenges within good time to find solutions.

Supplier partnership and management

Build and maintain effective working relationships with all raw material and fabric suppliers including working knowledge of their capability and supply chain to meet demands.

Ensure all mills and suppliers are aware of, and adhere to, Tiger of Sweden Chemical and Quality Standards and be the contact person for any queries relating to these matters.

Create and strengthen partnerships between fabric suppliers and garment manufacturers to ensure on time raw material delivery and articles that are fit for production.

Fabric bookings and delivery tracking

Create clear, concise and accurate fabric and trim list at the start of each season that can be used from development to bulk bookings.

Ensure all trials, prototypes, salesman and bulk fabric lengths are booked and delivered on time.

Maintain accurate data on all bookings and ensure this is available to all relevant teams.

For bulk, work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the MasterList data is correct so bulk booking dates are adhered to.

Collate all data on end of season excess and work with the Head of Product Development to deplete in good time.

Lead contact for third party fabric sales partners with support of the Raw Material Procurement Coordinator.

Quality Testing & Assurance

Own the development of risk assessments, including chemical testing, being carried out while developing the collections. Find solutions to mitigate any risks according to Tifer of Sweden’s quality standards.

Follow-up on physical testing and chemical testing; read and interpret reports and take steps to eliminate risks or take corrective actions.

Participate in quality meetings, partnering with the Head of Product Development in this process.

Pro-actively communicate with partners regarding Tiger of Sweden’s chemical requirements and partner with suppliers to avoid chemical failures.

Work closely with the Sustainably Manager to set the guidelines of sustainability on fibers and fabrics.

Data integrity

Maintain accurate data on centralised systems, including keeping good history of data by season and collection as reference and archive.

Ensure PLM / PDM systems are kept updated with 100% accuracy at all times.

Collect technical sheets from the start of fabric sourcing as the basis for quality testing.

Ownership of all fabric related data including technical and pricing, orders, delivery status, lead times, MOQ, testing and leftover.

Qualifications

• Technical capability and fabric knowledge with ability to confidently influence and lead the Design and Product teams when it comes to fabrics.
• Experience in managing supplier relationships.
• Experience in critical path management for raw materials to ensure collections are delivered on time. Knowledge and know how in identifying risks and making recommendations to mitigate identified challenges.
• A strong understanding of fabric cost to achieve a balance between creativity and commerciality. Expert ability to counter source fabrics for leadtime and / or price gains for ultimate gross margin.
• Demonstrated experience working on site with mills.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to negotiate with credibility, share information effectively, and work confidently with cross functional teams.
• Fashion sensibility; knowledge of the market and consumer behavior and preferences.
• Contacts and experience working with a global fabric supply base.

TOOLS & SYSTEMS

Computer skills: PLM / PDM, Excel