We are looking for a Senior Technologist for a 6 month to end of March 2022, to cover jewellery, bags, belts, and fashion soft and hard accessories including sunglasses. Some gifting/home experience would also be a bonus if possible.
This is a fast-paced role and would suit candidates with fast fashion experience.
3-4 days a week would be considered
Accountabilities and Responsibilities
Strategy
• Understands the Business Strategy and how that impacts your Department
• Plays a part in forming and implementing Quality Strategy within your own product category whilst contributing across the wider quality team.
• Is able to represent the quality team in appropriate x business forums knowing customer and market
• Works with customer insight and tools to understand customer expectations.
• Conduct regular store visits and DC e-comm visits to stay in touch with delivered quality and customer reactions.
• Stays informed with current market trends, and regularly benchmarks product to identifying competitor advances to drive development.
• Uses data from all customer insights to implement change, for continuous product improvement
Working with BMD:
• Ensures all quality processes are aligned and feed into the department critical path.
• Collaborate with BMD team to develop and drive department strategy.
• Regularly works to co-ordinate wider cross department activities on behalf of the quality team.
• Full knowledge of key profit drivers and supporting the associated trading activities.
• Proactively challenge BMD at every stage to ensure customer expectations are met.
Quality management:
• Owns and drives the Quality Framework, ensuring it is embedded in the departmental WOW.
• Focus on quality assurance and maintains robust quality management processes throughout the value chain.
• Recognises the global nature of the business and ensures that product meets legal obligations.
• Proactively uses the feedback data from all streams to implement corrective action plans for continuous improvement.
• Consult and inform other areas of the business as appropriate to maintain brand consistency.
• Acts as a mentor and coach in the wider quality team
Manufacturing Knowledge:
• Uses manufacturing knowledge to agree product construction and suitability for mass production.
• Use product engineering to deliver best cost price and value whilst operating within the quality framework
• Uses comprehensive supply base knowledge to develop the right product with the right capable supplier.
• Be the ‘go to’ person in BMD team for all things quality or manufacturing related.
• As a senior technologist identifies the benefits of a transfer of their skills and knowledge to the wider quality and BMD teams to improve decision making and purchasing practices.
• Uses their supply and commercial knowledge effectively to support in negotiation and mediations
Risk Assessment:
• Be the risk assessment ambassador for the product category.
• Practising and embedding risk assessment as part of the quality framework process.
• Where product falls outside the framework, use the risk assessment skills to deliver solution based corrective action/continuous improvement.
Knowing product:
• Use your specialist product knowledge to deliver product that is right first time
• Share your specialist product knowledge to upskill the BMD team
• Continuously updating & maintaining the framework to ensure consistent quality within agreed lead times
Specify product:
• Apply material/component knowledge to assure performance and compliance.
• Manage packing and labeling requirements to ensure consistency of brand and compliance.
• Solutionises and promotes the right transit methods for products, ensuring no erosion of their value to customer and the Client.
Quality Assurance Practitioner
• A senior technologist fully embraces an assurance approach.
• Is employing new technologies , feedback loops and recognizes the benefits of frameworks, process and supplier engagement over a product by product approach to deliver consistent product.
• Promotes best practice internally and externally
• Will often oversee test and learn projects.
Team management:
• Responsible for the motivation and personal development of direct reports.
• Proactively mentoring and coaching direct reports
• Support with the development of colleagues, deliver training and transfer skills.
• Deputises effectively in Technical Manager’s absence.
Technical Skills
• Specialist product knowledge/multiple product experience
• Assimilates and articulates a clear understanding of customer expectations
• Applies first hand experience of manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of product construction, material performance.
• Proficient in running pre-production meetings for Accessories
• Makes solution-based decisions from skilled interpretation of test reports.
• Understand open costing and able to support buying team through product engineering.
• Proficient risk assessment skills
• Proactive in benchmarking product – production for consistency and competitors for innovation.
• Is able to specify packaging and presentation requirements of a product throughout the value chain.
• Understanding of brand and sub-brand strategy and actively participating in the development and delivery of department strategy.
• Actively implement regulatory requirements within their product area.
• Confident subject matter expert in X business forums.
• Understand roles and responsibilities within the BMD team, uses this to ensure impacts of decisions widely considered
• Assimilates KPI reports and responds appropriately and in a timely way to manage and implement change.
• Ability to convert product requirements into technical terms.
• Ability to conduct a technical factory audit, reporting non-conformances and agreeing corrective actions.
• Will demonstrate a natural tendency towards leadership in a team to achieve results.
Other Essential Skills
• Proactive & appropriately challenging in their approach within departments and the wider team
• Growing knowledge and willingness to embrace new technologies
• Clearly visible & vocal within the BMD team meetings; sign offs, reviews, order signing etc.
• Delivering and operating the Client’s values.
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills
• Good interpersonal/ communication skills at all levels.
• Is a team player. Ability to initiate and build strong relationships with BMD and wider business.
• Ability to initiate and build strong relationships with all suppliers.
• Makes decisions from an informed standpoint, and is confident and assertive, ensuring all decisions are solution focussed.
• Risk assessment and SWOT analysis skills.
• Numerical and analytical skills.
• Organisational skills.
• Technical networking outside the business.
• Ability to line manage, motivate and develop team.
Knowledge and Experience
• A relevant qualification / degree in a related subject and previous experience as a Senior Technologist within a major retailer
• Product specialist in chosen category