Kontoor Brands - Greensboro, NC
posted 3 months ago
As the Associate Product Developer at Kontoor Brands, Inc., you will play a crucial role as the key liaison and administrator between the Brand and Supply Chain. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure best-in-class quality and on-time execution of the product line while meeting margin goals. You will manage an efficient and effective product development process, overseeing the accuracy of sampling information flow, achieving preliminary cost margin targets, and managing the calendar through final pre-production approvals to deliver products that align with the Design aesthetic intent. In this role, you will work closely with the Pattern/Tech Design team to generate on-time, accurate, and complete technical specification packages. You will collaborate with the Fabric/Wash teams to engineer high-quality, cost-viable products. Your responsibilities will include organizing all garment sampling orders and coordinating product approval submissions from suppliers to meet calendar due dates. You will track all development and product sampling activities to ensure timely delivery for briefs, prototypes, salesman samples, pre-production size set approvals, and final manufacturing-ready products. Additionally, you will evaluate and submit accurate development product costing in adherence to critical calendar milestones and margin goals. Analyzing costs against margin expectations will be essential, as you will identify and provide viable cost-saving opportunities. You will partner closely with the Design team on seasonal line development to ensure alignment throughout the development process, executing to product aesthetic and intent. Managing final Line Sheets for production-ready pass-off will also be part of your responsibilities. Your role will require you to manage efficient and streamlined workflow processes and working tools for optimal execution accuracy, shortening lead times, lowering minimums, and reducing costs. You will operate and support current and future new business system management, standardizing and instituting best practices where possible. Identifying and assessing the best mill sources and vendor partners appropriate to the Brand will be crucial in line with product strategies and capability/capacity needs to enable category growth, new product opportunities, and market innovation.