Senior Lead - Apparel Material Development (Performance) / Senior Lead - Apparel Material Development (Performance)

Position Overview

As a Senior Lead – Apparel Materials Development Performance, you will be pivotal in executing the global performance materials strategy and advancing textile technology aligned with the company's vision. This role encompasses overseeing fabric creation, advanced material development, and technical execution, while actively collaborating across functions to support performance, sustainability, and high-quality product objectives.

Your Responsibilities

• Strategic Sourcing & Creation: Define, develop, and lead the strategic sourcing and creation of technical, high-performance apparel materials, including knits, wovens, and applicable trims or embellishments, aligning with design briefs, product roadmaps, timelines, sourcing policies, and sustainability requirements.
• Standards & Quality Control: Establish and manage fabric availability standards, sourcing policies, and quality assurance processes to support target prices and program timelines across the global supply chain.
• Multi-Season Management: Lead material development workstreams within assigned projects, coordinating across multiple apparel product seasons to ensure alignment with program objectives.
• Sustainability Leadership: Drive and report on material-specific targets in line with the company sustainability roadmap, ensuring compliance, circularity, and continuous improvement in raw materials.
• Technical Specifications: Create and maintain material and trim specifications, print applications, and related documentation using the PLM system, fostering the adoption of best practices within the team.
• Lifecycle & Testing: Oversee the material lifecycle, ensuring all textiles and substrates are robustly tested for high-intensity sports applications, approved, and continuously improved, utilizing expertise in yarns, fabric structures, dyeing, finishing, and printing.
• Supplier Partnerships: Build and maintain strategic relationships with T2 material suppliers (textile mills, print vendors) and T1 factory teams (garment manufacturers) to support material development, quality, and process improvements.
• Library Innovation: Contribute to the development and maintenance of the digital and physical apparel material library and tools used across the product creation team, supporting both inline commercial lines and special innovation projects.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Collaborate across functions with internal teams — Design, Product Development, Product Management, Innovation, Sustainability, and Testing — across global regions (EU & Asia Sourcing office) to ensure seamless alignment and successful execution of apparel material initiatives.

Your Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree (minimum) in Textile Engineering, Textile Technology, Apparel Science, or a related field; Master’s degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• Experience: 10+ years in performance apparel material/fabric development, with a proven track record in technical textiles, innovative synthetics, or sports apparel execution, including extensive collaboration with Asia-based suppliers and factories.
• Global Mobility: Extensive travel experience to T2 material mills/suppliers and T1 garment factories to troubleshoot, create, develop, and source materials at the source.
• Project Leadership: Proven experience managing cross-functional material development projects from initial concept to commercial production across a matrixed organization.
• Sport Tech Expertise: Strong affinity for apparel design and technology in the technical performance category, with in-depth knowledge of performance fabric, garment construction methods, and industry manufacturing processes.
• Innovation Mindset: Proven success in driving innovation in performance materials, with experience managing multiple overlapping seasons of product development.
• Analytical & Organized: Excellent attention to detail, capable of organizing complex material data and delivering well-structured presentations and long-term planning documents to leadership.
• Leadership & Mentorship: Strong understanding of apparel industry processes, with the ability to work independently while effectively collaborating across teams and mentoring junior colleagues.
• Communication & Negotiation: Exceptional collaborative skills and experience in engaging with diverse global stakeholders, with excellent verbal and written communication and negotiation abilities.
• Agility: Ability to balance creative design intent with rigorous technical organization and discipline, thriving in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

About the Team

The Apparel Materials Development Performance team is dedicated to developing and delivering the company’s performance and sustainability strategy for all apparel textiles and raw materials. This cutting-edge team defines global material strategies and supports projects that advance more sustainable materials, products, and manufacturing processes.

By working closely with cross-functional partners, we aim to embed material sustainability and high-performance priorities into the core of garment creation with an emphasis on effective communication and knowledge sharing. As a Lead, you will leverage your deep technical textile expertise to drive the execution of material strategies and ensure world-class fabrics and components are successfully integrated across our global sports product lines.

How to Apply

Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.