Responsible Materials Partner

White Stuff; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fashion retailer based in Birmingham seeks a Responsible Materials Partner to spearhead material sustainability and fabric innovation. This role involves managing material procurement, building supplier relationships, and ensuring compliance with environmental targets. The ideal candidate will have fashion retail experience, strong project management skills, and a deep understanding of sustainability practices. The role offers a hybrid working model with competitive benefits including an annual bonus and generous holiday allowance.

Benefits

Hybrid working

Annual bonus opportunity

Up to 25 days holiday

Paid volunteer days

50% discount

Subsidised dental insurance

Healthcare cash plan

Pension contribution

Qualifications

• Experience in fabric sourcing and development.
• Knowledge of product development and production processes.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, multi-channel environment.

Responsibilities

• Drive innovation in materials ensuring sustainability.
• Undertake supplier appointments and attend exhibitions.
• Oversee lifecycle of all fabrics from development to production.

Skills

Fashion retail experience

Sustainability knowledge

Project management skills

Effective communication skills

Analytical skills

Negotiation skills

Organisational skills

Job description

About White Stuff

White Stuff was established in 1985 through a simple idea. This idea grew and now we have shops and concessions in the UK and internationally, selling women's and men's clothing as well as beautiful accessories and homeware. Our original prints (all designed in house), intricate details and considered design touches reflect our personality and make us subtly distinctive.

Primary Objective of the Role

The Responsible Materials Partner role will be a central point of contact within WS for material expertise. It is an important role supporting WS ESG Business Strategy Fabric Pillar, building material sustainability knowledge, alongside creative fabric sourcing innovation for all product categories. Meeting ambitious SBTi targets to reduce carbon impacts across WD product will be met through full transparency of the entire WS value supply chain, driving efficiencies and partnerships to Tier 5 in collaboration with our Digital Product Passport provider. This role will provide value through the optimisation of material procurement. Scaling up consolidation and negotiation opportunities through greige booking management, down‑time production planning, and raw material management will drive cost save, whilst ensuring 100% more sustainable material targets are met at pace. Critical partner to the Design and Garment Technology Teams, to build fit for future innovation, trend sourcing and sustainable materials.

Who you are

• Fashion retail experience in fabric sourcing and development with excellent sustainability knowledge across multi‑product, global supply chain and vendor strategy.
• Knowledgeable in product development, production processes and best practices.
• Good working knowledge of product critical paths and cross costings.
• In‑depth knowledge of fashion trends, interpreting market intel, and comp shops.
• Demonstrated technical knowledge, including jersey, knit, woven, embroidery, digital printing, yarn, greige & raw material procurement.
• Global material supply chain knowledge and contacts.
• High commercial awareness and understanding of product open costings, achieving a balance between creativity and commercial implications throughout the product development process.
• Innovative in the field of material newness, sustainability & circularity.
• Excellent analytical and record‑keeping/data management skills.
• Project management skills, analytical and strategic thinking skills.
• Strong collaborative, organisational, and people skills.
• Able to set up and establish high standards in the material procurement process with suppliers.
• Able to work in a fluid, fast‑paced, multi‑channel environment.
• Ability to travel as needed.
• Effective communication and negotiation skills.
• A people’s person with the ability to build relationships and negotiate with ease.
• Highly organised with strong time, people, and project management skills.
• Independent but enjoys working in a team and has a flexible approach to working.

What you'll be doing

• Fabric Trend & Development: Driving innovation & newness in yarn, materials, washes and finishes, ensuring sustainability & innovation, through certified materials, is at the forefront of all material decisions.
• Undertake supplier appointments, attend material exhibitions and conduct regular comp shops to research material innovations and sustainability drivers.
• Sourcing material options that support circularity, sustainability, target price, technical requirements, with brand‑appropriate aesthetic.
• Responsible for overseeing the lifecycle of all fabrics from development and sourcing through to production, ensuring newness and excellent standards are met.
• Formulate an initial WS Fabric Strategy, with Head of Buying, to ensure White Stuff Material Sustainability targets and compliance are met.
• Build Fabric Supplier Material Forums to ensure WS suppliers are regularly updated.
• Provide textile knowledge training to all WS teams.
• Introduce a regular company Material Training Program for Retail, Design, Buying, Merch & Technical teams, prioritising sustainability.
• Drive full value‑chain transparency in collaboration with Digital Product Passport provider: Tier 2 Fabric Mills, Printers, Embellishers, Tanneries and Laundering Units, Tier 3 Spinners, Ginners, Tier 4 Farms.
• Responsible for sourcing and building strong relationships with the best factories and mills globally, while working closely with the Product Teams to help execute their creative ideas, to ensure innovation, continuous improvement, and customer value.
• Build and maintain an effective Fabric Library.
• Support the move towards a Circular Design model, building a Digital Material Library to drive Material Circularity.
• Oversee WS fabric liability to ensure prompt use‑up.
• Build towards a preferred mill list, road‑mapping to build partnerships through to mill level leading to a future nomination & accreditation process to meet wider ESG ambitions.
• With the Technical Manager investigate and adopt new innovative sustainable fibres & materials, evaluate provenance and commerciality with clear business objectives.
• Drive sustainable material standards and due diligence for the business.
• Train all product, finance, logistics and merchandising teams on material standards & drive the business chain‑of‑custody procedure.
• Attend annual material standard audits and organise all documentation.
• Analyse and gather product and material data for our annual carbon reporting submission.
• Drive circular design initiatives for the business through training and collaboration, ensuring this is a priority across all product teams (buying, design & technical).

What you'll need

• Ability to work in partnership with the design teams, understanding and interpreting their creative aesthetic and design vision and translating this to suppliers to ensure WS is best in market for beautiful, high‑quality fabrics.
• Preparing and presenting seasonal material presentations with the design team to introduce new material characteristics, providing innovative technique suggestions across yarns, blends, structure, wash and finish, alerting potential risks to the team during the development stage.
• Working closely with Technologists, advise design teams simply on fabric technical matters, attend presentations and meetings, provide feedback on fabric feasibility, brainstorm ideas, and solutions to ensure the design vision is translated into innovative sustainable materials.
• Developing a transparent fabric supplier base to support the company's growth opportunities and meeting ambitious ESG targets.
• With the Head of Buying and Technical Manager, develop and maintain an evolving and robust fabric supplier matrix, monitoring performance against capacity, capability, sustainability innovation, cost, and country of origin.
• With Head of Buying, drive a company fabric pricing structure with best lead‑times.
• Guide teams on broad textile knowledge and mill‑specific processes and technologies.
• Review and set up a WS sample length process to drive new materials and sustainable innovations with cost‑save efficiencies and instill a 1st‑time‑right mentality.

What we will offer you

• Hybrid working
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Up to 25 days holiday per annum
• 2 extra (paid!) days off per year to volunteer in the local community
• 50% discount
• Subsidised BUPA Dental Insurance
• Healthcare cash plan and Life Assurance
• Interest free season ticket loan
• Pension Contribution

We are committed to creating an environment where we can all be proud to work and be ourselves. Part of this commitment is being an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, and age.