Material Color Quality Engineer

Patagonia • San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA

3d • $90,000 - $104,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Material Color Quality Engineer, you will ensure the integrity, consistency, and performance of fabric coloration across Patagonia’s material catalog. This role plays a vital part in evaluating colorfastness, optimizing supplier processes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to maintain Patagonia’s robust quality standards. By working with internal teams and global supply chain partners, you will help mitigate color quality risks, troubleshoot production challenges, and ensure accurate color execution from development through bulk production. This role offers opportunities to develop expertise in advanced coloration processes, material application methods, and supply chain operations. Maintaining Patagonia color excellence as best-in-class in the industry will be key to your success and contribution to saving the home planet.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Textile Science, Color Theory, or related field with 3+ years related industry experience (or 5+ years of experience in lieu of a degree).
• Strong technical knowledge of coloration processes, dye class and fiber interactions, and colorfastness testing.
• Comprehensive understanding of color development, color theory and color space, and color evaluation technologies
• Experience working with color management systems and digital color evaluation tools.
• Ability to evaluate and approve color consistency across multiple substrates and production runs, exercising a high degree of professionalism and delivering results against tight and complex timelines.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with experience working with suppliers and internal teams to resolve quality issues.
• Excellent organizational and data management skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop seasonal colors to commercialization, with priority to digital evaluation, while adhering to Product Creation Calendar.
• Enforce color and quality specifications for materials, ensuring all substrates meet Patagonia’s robust colorfastness and quality requirements.
• Evaluate and approve lab dips, oversee bulk color production scaling, and troubleshoot supplier challenges to ensure accurate and repeatable color execution.
• Assess supplier capabilities, process efficiencies, and color performance, collaborating with mills and production partners to optimize color consistency.
• Support the transition of color from development to production, maintaining digital and physical color evaluation standards.
• Troubleshoot color quality challenges, collaborating with suppliers and cross-functional teams to resolve issues.
• Manage and maintain color management databases and PLM systems, ensuring color specifications, colorfastness test results, and approvals are accurately documented.
• Contribute to process improvements, helping to refine evaluation methods, tools, and best practices to enhance Patagonia’s approach to color quality.
• Partner with product teams, design, and development teams, advising on color feasibility and best practices for achieving high-quality color results.
• Additional projects as required.

Benefits

• Patagonia offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, retirement and leave of absence plans. Benefit plans may vary slightly depending on the nature of your employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level