Technical Development Lead — Workwear & Knitwear

Futurestitch; San Clemente (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

FutureStitch is seeking a hands-on Technical Development Manager to own cut-and-sew apparel development from concept through production approval, spanning woven workwear, knitwear, underwear, and performance base layers for SECONDS and New Balance.

You will translate design direction into manufacturable products, decide on material, fit, pattern, and construction, and keep teams and factories on schedule, quality, and cost through the critical development phase.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in apparel technical development or hands-on cut-and-sew development experience.
• Proven ability to take garments from concept through fit approval, testing, pre-production, and bulk production.
• Strong command of patternmaking, fit, grading, fabric behavior, stitch and seam selection, garment engineering, and factory sewing operations.
• Deep familiarity with woven workwear durability and knitwear stretch, recovery, shrinkage, and construction behavior.
• Advanced tech-pack and Adobe Illustrator proficiency; working fluency with PLM, spreadsheets, and digital development workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development from concept to production readiness.
• Create and maintain full tech packs, patterns, grading, BOMs, trims, construction details, and quality tolerances.
• Maintain version-controlled tech packs and measurement points; manage a style tracker with gates and due dates.
• Collaborate with overseas and domestic mills, trim suppliers, sample rooms, and factories; troubleshoot on the factory floor.
• Establish construction libraries, vendor-ready specs, and mentor teammates across development disciplines.
• Drive on-time handoffs, pre-production sign-off, and early risk escalation with solutions.

Skills

Apparel development

Patternmaking

Grading & fit

PLM proficiency

Adobe Illustrator

Factory floor troubleshooting

Tools

PLM

Adobe Illustrator

Spreadsheets

Job description

FutureStitch is seeking a hands-on Technical Development Manager to own cut-and-sew apparel development from concept through production approval, spanning woven workwear, knitwear, underwear, and performance base layers for SECONDS and New Balance.

You will translate design direction into manufacturable products, decide on material, fit, pattern, and construction, and keep teams and factories on schedule, quality, and cost through the critical development phase.