Free People Director of Technical Design

Free People; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 160,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Paid time off

Employee discounts

Retirement savings plan

Job summary

Free People, part of URBN, is seeking a Director of Technical Design to lead the FP TD team across all levels, ensuring brand fit and top-quality products. This role partners with PD, Production, Design and Buying, and collaborates with URBN regional offices.

You will mentor leaders, set team goals, manage workloads, and drive digital transformation including 3D fitting and virtual samples. Travel internationally and work with multiple studios and factories.

Qualifications

• Senior-level technical design leadership experience with teams of managers.
• Proven ability to mentor leaders and manage cross-functional programs.
• Expert in fit standards, construction, tolerances for knit and woven apparel.
• Strong communication skills for collaboration across global partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the FP TD team, setting goals and ensuring brand fit and quality.
• Collaborate with PD, Production, Design, Buying and URBN partners.
• Drive digital transformation, 3D knowledge, and review digital samples.
• Monitor workload, manage calendars, and coach team members.

Skills

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring / coaching

Technical design leadership

3D fittings

Communication

Tools

Clo 3D

Job description

URBN is looking for a Director of Technical Design for Free People. The Director of Technical Design will run the Free People collection TD team which includes all Technical design levels from Assoc Managers to assistant TD’s. This role will have regular TB’s with cross functional partners in PD, Production, Design and Buying as well as working closely with URBN regional office partners. This role also partners closely with other TD brands, participating in regular meetings with the Senior Director of URBN Technical Design and TD Directors and Managers from FP Movement, Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters brands to review department goals, resources and technical design practices across URBN. This leader will b uild great teams and actively engages them (develops, coaches, sets expectations & provides feedback). Sets team goals and makes management decisions. Proactively mentors and coaches others. Monitors team workload and pivots as needed to adjust to business demands including directly covering and processing as needed.

Role Responsibilities

• The FP TD director will lead the FP TD team into continued digital transformation where they will continue to build and grow their current 3D knowledge and build and refine best practices so that all teams can make decisions digitally while still keeping brand fit and quality standards the highest priorities. The director will closely monitor both digital and virtual samples.
• Works cross-functionally, with team members at all levels, to develop strategy for FP collection and execute on projects. Regularly solicits and integrates supplier, process, and team feedback from stakeholders as appropriate.
• Expected to drive decisions and manage output of team to ensure all calendar deadlines are met or exceeded. Determines solutions and arranges resources to fulfill plans of action. Recognizes operational weaknesses or roadblocks and proactively identifies opportunities to improve quality and velocity of team's work.
• Exhibits high quality feedback skills in dealing with cross functional partners and regional office partners; helps others mature their feedback skills. Sets an example for cross-functional and regional collaboration. Shares relevant information and knowledge widely.

Role Qualifications

• 10+ years of Senior Technical Design Manager experience or higher.
• An experienced people manager. Leader of leaders.
• The FP TD Directory must be extremely flexible and adaptable to handle a fast paced work environment and must have the ability to deal with quick changes in priorities. They must also be able to guide and mentor direct reports in handling change management.
• Expert in fit standards, construction and tolerances in a variety of knit and woven apparel including denim, intimate apparel, structured woven's, outerwear, heavy weight knits and soft woven's.
• Expert level experience in dealing with multiple washes in both woven's and knits.
• Advanced knowledge of garment testing and the effects of washes on specific woven & knit fabrics, specific fiber content and trims.
• Experience is handling multiple overlapping calendars including wholesale and retail, chase and late add.
• Experience with pattern making, Clo 3D software and coaching teams using software to conduct 3D fittings live with design and buying teams.
• Must be a proactive and excellent communicator who can handle working with multiple members of large teams and individuals of all levels.
• Experience in traveling internationally, factory/production lines and QA processes.

The Perks

URBN offers comprehensive Perks & Benefits to employees. Availability and eligibility to specific benefits may be subject to your location and employment status. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, PTO, generous employee discounts, retirement savings and much more! For additional information visit www.urbn.com/work-with-us/benefits

EEO Statement

URBN celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression), religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. We believe strongly in fostering a safe, fair and respectful work environment. To ensure compliance with our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, we offer anti-harassment training to managers and employees.