About the position
We are a fashion-lifestyle brand of big dreams, colorful confidence, and inspired design. Founded on Family, Fashion and Philanthropy, we believe that our employees and customers are the heart and soul of our brand, and that giving back is the truest form of success. Fashion meets innovation in the design of our two state-of-the-art facilities based in the heart of Austin, Texas, and overflows into the design of our growing retail environment across the country. Reporting to our Materials & Product Integrity (MPI) Manager, the Materials & Product Integrity (MPI) Specialist is responsible for ensuring the highest level of quality product is delivered to our customers. To meet industry and brand standards, this role will be charged with ensuring our suppliers report all testing procedures prior to production. This role combines the need for meticulous focus on tracking product testing results, conducting wear tests, and answering quality concerns reports from retail. If an issue arises post PO shipment, they support by investigating the root cause analysis, participating in AQL product inspections and final documentation. The MPI Specialist supports their manager with material sourcing and development projects meeting product design aesthetic intent, cost targets, brand identity, and quality standards. They will manage data entry in the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system specific to new material set up and support supplier development communication. The MPI Specialist will own invoice approvals, sample orders, create cross-functional product knowledge documents, and upkeep the material sample and range libraries both digital and physical.
Responsibilities
- Ensure the adherence of product quality and KS Brand standards across suppliers.
- Manage up all concerns associated with material feasibility and product engineering to mitigate quality risk in development.
- Confirm all product testing criteria are met based on industry standards in each development phase and production for each SKU.
- Reviews all test reporting to ensure compliance to product testing specifications and standards.
- Initiates the wear testing process, track, and reports results to direct manager.
- Maintains logs for quality issues discovered through customer and retail channels and reports high level details to leadership.
- Coordinates and supports production inspections as necessary at retail locations, home office, and KS DC facilities.
- Maintains meticulous organization of physical and digital libraries for all catalogues, material samples, and production range standards.
- Prepare shipments of samples and materials to external and overseas teams.
- Own issuing material sample orders and quotes in PLM system.
- Ensure vendors are made aware by handoff notice via email.
- Review, approve, and track material invoices from vendors and work closely with accounting to issue payment.
- Proactively reach out to vendors to ensure they are submitting invoices in a timely manner.
- Reviews material samples, development specs, and product samples to access accuracy of execution, color, and quality of product.
- In partnership with manager, provide recommendations to PD and factory as necessary.
- Assist with seasonal material sourcing and R&D efforts to meet quality, cost, and design intent.
- Supports direct manager with communication to suppliers, driving development and product integrity through daily emails, PLM, and scheduled calls.
- Responsible for PLM data entry inclusive of material set up, size association, and requesting quotes and samples.
- Applies material knowledge to collaborate with manager to create and distribute material and quality product knowledge documents to cross-functional teams.
- Enforce material sample ship dates according to the Product Development calendar and communicate priorities to our vendor.
- Manages on-time fulfillment of material supplier quote information and receipt of Gemstone Identification and material content testing from suppliers.
- Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Design, Merchandising, Production, Vendors and Agents.
- Provide productive feedback to vendors and/or agency when needed, and track downfalls/wins including, but not limited to, lead times and on-time delivery, throughout the quarter to aid in the completion of the partnership survey for the quarterly scorecards.
- Work with teams to support new vendor onboarding plans to ensure smooth and successful onboarding.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Design, Product Development, Business, Fashion Merchandising, or related fields.
- 1-3 years' experience in Material Sourcing, Product Development, Technical Design, Quality Assurance, or Product Integrity within a high-growth company.
- Understanding of gemstones, product technical design, manufacturing, and development processes.
- Detail oriented, organized, and strong multi-tasking skills with the ability to react quickly in a fast-paced environment.
- Excited by a challenge and can execute projects with limited or no direction.
- Deadline focused, detail-oriented and highly organized; Not fazed by complexity, multiple timelines, and competing priorities.
- Experience working with domestic and overseas vendors.
- Exhibits strong effective communication skills both written and verbal.
- Experienced with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
- PLM experience is a plus.
- A strong ability to build cross-functional partnerships and work collaboratively.
- A growth mindset: desire to learn, grow and embrace new ideas.
- A shared appreciation for our 3 core values of Family, Fashion and Philanthropy.
