Director Materials (textiles)

Duties / Responsibilities:

Material Design & Development:

• Lead and contribute to the design and prototyping of new materials (fabrics and components, trims) to service the requirements of Fanatics Brands customers or when improvement of carry over materials is needed.
• Contribute to Product Risk Assessment gates during the design and development cycle, providing technical expertise to avoid material and/or product concepts that will compromise the quality standards of the brand
• Drive calendar and OTP to Production Buy Ready deadlines, inclusive of escalation protocols to resolve approvals exceeding timeline limits and/or failing quality requirements. Provide root cause analysis and corrective action plans to improve overall product performance.
• Lead and manage material sample and development tracking sheets from concept to adoption.

Business Intelligence:

• Provides relevant material market information and intelligence through to business partners, inclusive of material direction, market trends, supplier activities, process technologies, material volumes, and recent innovations / developments or fabric insights on strategy.
• Align activities with Brand strategy and pricing / quality
• Provides local textile market information and intelligence through business networks, that yields accurate market data including, competitor activities, general market volume, global market indicators impacting cost and insights on production and manufacturing protocols
• Lead the team with gathering data to manage scorecards and metrics that maintains a mill Matrix of the best performing suppliers. Identify key performance areas requiring development, quality and service improvement to ensure the source strategy meets Fanatics brand and supply chain requirements. Ensure all required development inputs into the KPI dashboard (color, development, testing).
• Maintain, ensure accuracy and communicate all material information specification sheets, RMDS, trackers and quality hangars for all locally sourced materials
• Drive business efficiencies on fabric developments and maintain a balanced fabric portfolio of carryover versus new fabrications and/or colors
• Design and Maintenance of all SOPs related to the Materials team in the PCC.

Quality

• Ensure product integrity of all business channels Fanatics and Nike by initiating the testing of all materials, inclusive of QC and domestic decoration testing, to meet the needs of customers and business requirements. Be a primary input and consul for all areas of material quality that would need improving from a standards pov as well as a manufacturing aspect

Material Sourcing

• Sources, evaluates and participates on the onboarding of new material T2 suppliers based on the brand strategy, price/quality objectives, capabilities and new/innovative fabrics.
• Partner with our sourcing colleagues on fabric pre-positioning on core programs.
• Negotiate, source and counter source where necessary materials are required to support the garment sourcing strategy for price, speed and flexibility.
• Build and maintain good relationships with the key mills, and ensures smooth, efficient and effective communications with all cross functional partners, in all Fanatics offices.

Coaching / People Skills

• Supervise, train and mentor colorists in all responsibilities ensuring on-time, efficient and accurate color approvals processing
• Evaluate and maintain enough material technicians to support the business, train Fanatics vendors (T1 / T2 / T3) and solve production issues when they arise when related to materials and components.

Fanatics Commerce is a leading designer, manufacturer, and seller of licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods. It operates a vertically-integrated platform of digital and physical capabilities for leading sports leagues, teams, colleges, and associations globally – as well as its flagship site, www.fanatics.com.

Fanatics Commerce has a broad range of online, sports venue, and vertical apparel partnerships worldwide, including comprehensive partnerships with leading leagues, teams, colleges, and sports organizations across the world—including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, Formula 1, and Australian Football League (AFL); the Dallas Cowboys, Golden State Warriors, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Chelsea FC, and Tokyo Giants; the University of Notre Dame, University of Alabama, and University of Texas; the International Olympic Committee (IOC), England Rugby, and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

At Fanatics Commerce, we infuse our BOLD Leadership Principles in everything we do:
· Build Championship Teams
· Obsessed with Fans
· Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit
· Determined and Relentless Mindset