Senior Product Developer

At Fanatics Commerce, we’re more than just a leader in licensed sports merchandise – we’re a team united by a relentless passion for our fans and a commitment to innovation. We live by our BOLD Leadership principles: We Build Championship Teams, we’re Obsessed with Fans, we embrace a Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit, and we approach every challenge with a Determined and Relentless Mindset. If you’re ready to contribute to a dynamic, fast-paced environment that thrives on collaboration and growth, we want you to be part of our team.

Role Overview 

The Senior Product Developer is responsible for setting priorities for an assigned category, throughout the entire development process from 1st prototype to bulk production-ready status. This involves coordinating with the US teams to monitor reports that track the development, approvals, and production-ready status of all styles of the designated product line from concept through commercialization. Ensure cross functional alignment, calendar adherence while monitoring quality standards, financial targets. Analyse the development progress, and present corrective action plans to fix items at risk to missing deadlines. 

How you will make an impact:

Concept Development & SMS:

• Responsible for calendar adherence by managing Product Development calendar timelines and guiding cross functional decision making (Design, Art, Merch, Sourcing, Material Team, Product Integrity & Product Creation (PCC team))
• Develop strategy for material preposition and planning for Protos and SMS by working x-functionally with the Materials team & PCC.
• Create BOM, complete Tech Pack, ensuring it meets global product standard and post them to designated database.
• Communication with the PCC for any discrepancies and ensure the PD tracker is updated.
• Building and maintaining a close working partnership with Design. Acting as the technical partner for design, attending presentations and meetings, providing feedback on technical feasibility, brainstorming ideas, and solutions to ensure the design vision is translated into product meeting margin requirements & inclusive of pre-costing activities. 
• Mentor/Supervise Associate Technical Designer ensuring they have the proper onboarding and necessary tools to be successful
• Partner with Sourcing on timely approval of costing, factory allocation & potential options for cost-savings.
• Work with the PCC & internal cross functional partners to follow up on development testing and fix any potential quality issues through Risk Assessment covering entire design, development commercialization process.
• Monitor proto, SMS, or other pertinent sample delivery to ensure factories are hitting calendar timelines. Communicate with PCC on any corrective action plans to improve delays or resolve licensing roadblocks. 
• Drive SMS Buy Ready with cross functional business direct partners to meet on time performance for go to market & production buy ready activities.
• Inform any style re-development with PCC at the substitute factory & ensure the product meets all financial and product requirements to standard.
• Prepare for seasonal key milestone meetings; Proto/ Costing Review, Line freeze & TP Strategy Meetings. Ensure all necessary inputs & tools are on hand.
• Attend fit meetings creating calendar awareness on any product change request & ensure consistency across collections, inclusive to complying to all global standards. 
• Anticipate downstream impacts of changes that delay deliverables & provide solution-oriented support to partners. 

Production Ready:

• Ensure all data points (Tracker, Product Line Management, Box) are available & updated for PCC to commercialize across all available leagues/ teams. 
• Monitor & audit team out colour-up on PLM.
• Preparing PP licensing samples for approval, ensuring they are on time & audit against approved tech pack. 
• Providing alternate options to the cross-functional team when issue is escalated as a risk to buy-ready, per season.

Daily Activities:

• Monitor work in progress (WIP), maintain tracking and all PD-related record keeping, data input, and in/out parcel coordination.
• Facilitate timely communication with internal and external parties between US offices & PCC.
• Compile weekly metrics & analysis to support PD KPI’s. 
• Partner with Director/ Manager to identify opportunities within the process to increase speed, efficiency & quality. Partner with director on process improvement implementation. 
• Input report card metrics for on-time sample performance, quality & communicate with PCC on suggested action plans.
• Lead new global team member on-boarding and training programs, inclusive of monitoring progress and validating when/if continued training & learning opportunities are required. 
• Author and/or contribute to SOP documentation, distribution, and training relevant to necessary process updates for internal & external partners. Inclusive of being a SME in cross-functional SOP validation.

What you bring to the team:

• Bachelor's degree in Product Development or related field
• 7+ years of related experience in Sportswear development & management. 
• Technical knowledge of fabric, trim, construction, embellishment, and product engineering.
• Experience working for a US global company with international offices working with factories throughout the region.
• A team player with a good attitude, strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to influence, motivate, and mentor others.
• Proficient in product line management (PLM), databases, and MS Office applications
• Advanced Excel skills. 3D development experienced is preferred.
• Must be detail-oriented, able to multitask, and punctual in meeting deadlines.
• Willing and able to travel extensively, often to foreign and/or remote locations.
• Must be able to translate market-right designs into cost-effective garments while maintaining the quality and integrity of the product. 
• Ability to juggle multiple deadlines and tasks in a fast-paced environment. Strong sense of urgency and intuitive sense of priorities and accuracy.

At Fanatics, we value transparency and honesty. If you don’t meet every single requirement, that’s okay – we still want to hear from you! We believe in the power of diverse experiences and talents. If you’re excited about the role and confident that you can contribute, don’t hesitate to apply. We’re genuinely interested in how your unique skills and perspective can help us build something amazing together.

Where You’ll Work and What’s required:

Stubbs Mill office in Manchester.

What’s in it for you:

Culture: Join a team where you're surrounded by top-tier talent, driven by a shared passion to relentlessly enhance the fan experience. With a focus on collaboration, support, and continuous development, you’ll be empowered to help shape our culture that celebrates both individual and team successes.

Benefits: At Fanatics, we’re dedicated to supporting you in all aspects of work and life; as such we offer a range of competitive benefits tailored to each country in which we operate. Specific details regarding the benefits package applicable to your location will be shared and discussed during the interview process.