Senior Technical Designer, Soft Dressing, Lauren

The Senior Technical Designer is responsible and accountable for approving well fitting, properly constructed garments that are consistent between factories.  Approvals must meet our RL standards and design’s intent.  In order to meet these goals, the Senior Technical Designer must ensure all tools are created, maintained, and distributed globally, enabling our “Closer to Needle Point” strategy. 

The Senior Technical Designer has the expertise to coach, teach, mentor, persuade, and influence the Technical Design level in the organization to support growth within the group.  They are self-directed, but able to manage up as necessary.

The Senior Technical Designer is organized and able to independently prioritize workload.

• Foster open and collaborative communication with Design, PMT and Merch teams.
• Receive and prepare all proto/fit/showroom garments for review with Design, Merchandising & Product Development teams for details/fit approvals.
• Schedule and lead in-house fit sessions with cross functional team members and global partners.
• Possess strong understanding of pattern making and be able to accurately communicate pattern corrections.
• Enter fit comments into PLM with product pictures/dates in a timely fashion according to brand calendars and deadlines.
• Add/update construction detail sketches as needed via the use of Adobe Illustrator. 
• Confirm all grade rules are correct within the tech pack in order to produce compliant products for fit in each size.
• Complete all data in PLM to enable accurate/on time tracking reports as well as enable leadership to aggregate correct data. 
• Attend virtual fittings and partner with global teams to develop a flexible work life balance while meeting all deadlines.
• Drive a “closer to needle point” strategy, challenging if something needs to be fit in NY or handled offshore.
• Procure and provide all required materials for 3D digital asset creation and be able to build and work with 3D assets.
• Maintain an accurate global contact list and distribute to all global business partners at the beginning of Super season.
• Support tech pack creation by maintaining and globally distributing all simplification tools (fold manuals, block body spreadsheets, etc.…) prior to every super season.
• Maintain and distribute all tools necessary for Pre-production approval to offshore Technical Design Team and the Quality Assurance Team.
• Support the supplier calibration and certification process for supplier driven fit approvals.
• Collaborate with the offshore Tech Design Team, creating one universal, global way of working utilizing email, phone and video conferencing tools.

• Degree or Certification in Apparel Manufacturing, Design or equivalent work experience preferred
• Experience in apparel related role, preferably with a concentration in day/evening dresses & soft dressing.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage competing priorities.
• A sense of urgency and attention to detail.
• Ability to proactively problem solve.
• Knowledge of Accumark/Gerber a must.
• Adobe Illustrator sketching a must.
• Knowledge of 3D programs preferred.
• Computer Programs/Platforms:  PLM, Accumark/Gerber, Adobe Illustrator/Acrobat, MS SharePoint/OneDrive/Outlook/Excel/Word, Browzwear