Assistant Manager, Fabric R&D
Location: New York Employment Type: Contract, 5 months with potential to extend Pay Rate: $25/hr
About the Company
We’re partnering with an iconic global retail brand known for its heritage, innovation, and commitment to creating high-quality products that resonate with customers worldwide. This organization values collaboration, creativity, and forward-thinking talent to help shape the future of product development and sourcing.
About the Role
We are seeking an Assistant Manager, Fabric R&D to support the ideation, development, implementation, and execution of fabric and production strategies across global product categories. This role sits within a highly cross-functional and matrixed organization, partnering closely with teams across Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, Quality Assurance, Sustainability, Fabric R&D, and Global Sourcing to bring products to market efficiently and effectively.
The ideal candidate has experience or exposure to global product development, understands the relationship between design and merchandising decisions, and thrives in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. This person will play a key role in balancing innovation, quality, speed-to-market, and cost while supporting seasonal product execution.
Key Responsibilities
Support the execution of fabric and product development strategies aligned to production goals, vendor capabilities, and divisional priorities.
Partner cross-functionally with Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, Quality Assurance, Sustainability, and Global Sourcing teams to support product development initiatives.
Serve as a liaison between U.S.-based brand teams and Asia-based product and sourcing teams to ensure strong communication, alignment, and timely execution.
Understand the impact of merchandising and design decisions on product development, vendor strategy, and category execution.
Support financial goals by working with cross-functional partners to meet cost targets and guidance.
Prepare flash garment costing, ensuring accuracy across all costing components.
Maintain and manage Bill of Materials (BOM) data through PLM systems to support product execution and accuracy.
Monitor Product-to-Market (P2M) calendar milestones, proactively escalating risks or delays that could impact deadlines.
Identify and help resolve product execution challenges in partnership with international sourcing and production teams.
Support seasonal fabric strategies to manage liability and minimize exposure to fabric commitments prior to line adoption.
Anticipate and mitigate P2M risks related to supplier capabilities, cost, and timelines.
Qualifications
Experience or exposure to Global Product Development, preferably within apparel, textiles, retail, or consumer products.
Understanding of design, merchandising, vendor management, and category strategies within a product development environment.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to proactively manage multiple priorities and navigate ambiguity.
Demonstrated success working cross-functionally in a matrixed, fast-paced environment with global teams.
Strong communication skills with the ability to present data and information clearly to support decision-making.
High attention to detail with strong organizational and project management capabilities.
Experience with PLM systems and BOM management preferred.
Comfortable collaborating with international sourcing partners and Asia-based teams.
Ideal Candidate Profile
Collaborative and highly adaptable with strong learning agility.
Comfortable balancing speed, quality, cost, and supplier constraints in a fast-moving environment.
Naturally curious with a proactive mindset and openness to feedback.
Strong cross-functional communicator who thrives in global environments.
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