Textile Engineer

unspun, Inc.; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Self-regulated vacation

Health/dental/vision insurance

Company 401k

Education grant

Job summary

unspun is a robotics and digital apparel company in Emeryville seeking a textiles-focused engineer to drive 3D weaving material development. You will work hands-on with outputs and theory, collaborating with Product and Hardware teams to push the boundaries of additive, automated apparel production.

Ideal candidates have strong fabric development experience, fiber science knowledge, and a track record of conducting experiments.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Textile Engineering, Textile Technology, Fiber Science, Materials Science, or related fields.
• Extensive experience with fabric development.
• Strong knowledge of fiber and polymer science.
• Experience sourcing for apparel and textile manufacturing, especially yarn.
• Experience designing, conducting, and analyzing experiments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Open to working full time on-site in Emeryville.

Responsibilities

• Lead 3D weaving material development with our R&D Textile Engineer and collaborate with Product and Hardware teams to create the world’s first 3D woven products.
• Develop new product outputs using new manufacturing methods.
• Oversee management and organization of in-house material spec sheets.
• Provide insights about machine performance and reliability related to product outputs.
• Troubleshoot product challenges through experimentation to achieve ideal material properties.
• Operate revolutionary robotic loom to create apparel products and fabric swatches.
• Source materials for small and large-scale runs.
• Work with material vendors and suppliers on testing and standards.
• Conduct detailed analysis of weave quality and brainstorm improvements.
• Identify limitations of technical approaches and brainstorm new approaches.
• Work with hardware engineering to ideate and develop manufacturing technology.
• Support design, development, testing, and commercialization of our weaving technology.
• Coordinate tests and analyze results; develop test plans and communicate outcomes.
• Coordinate testing and new functionality integration with engineers and technicians.

Skills

Textile engineering

Fabric development

Experimentation

Robotics familiarity

Communication

On-site Emeryville

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Textile Engineering or related fields

Tools

Textile machinery

Job description

Description

We’re a fashion company with technology in our veins.

Our mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by 1% through automated, localized, and intentional manufacturing for apparel.

About us

unspun is a robotics and digital apparel company building custom jeans for each consumer, on-demand. Our mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by 1% through automated, localized, and intentional manufacturing.

Included in Time’s Best Inventions & Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, unspun aims to rapidly transition the trillion-dollar apparel world into one that is more intentional, inclusive, and efficient by focusing on the overlap between sustainability and profitability.

What we’re building

We’ve developed a proprietary and patent-pending technology at the crossroads of 3D printing and automated textile manufacturing. By skipping the flat 2D fabric stage, we can additively build custom apparel products from the ground up- straight from yarn to final product. If additive manufacturing, industrial automation, and synchronized systems of hundreds of sensors & actuators gets you excited, we’d love to talk!

About You

You enjoy working on fast-paced and early-stage R&D and bringing high quality products to market. You thrive on the lack of clear answers at the outset of high-reaching projects and look forward to finding clarity and articulating it to others. You enjoy wearing multiple hats and switching between different contexts. You are capable of working independently and in a team while being flexible, self-motivated, and curious. You have strong interpersonal skills and can help manage a complex testing program with competing needs from multiple sides of the organization. You are energized by working on big complex problems within an evolving R&D environment. You probably are a yarn and fabric nerd who gets excited around spec sheets. You enjoy daily challenges and relish the successes.

What You’ll Do

• Help lead 3D weaving material development along with our R&D Textile Engineer. You’ll be both hands‑on with the product outputs and theoretical with the inputs. You’ll work with the Product Team and the Hardware team to create the world’s first 3D woven products.
• Develop new product outputs using new manufacturing methods
• Oversee management and organization of in‑house material spec sheets
• Provide insights about machine performance and reliability, especially as it relates to product outputs
• Troubleshoot product challenges through experimentation using knowledge of all possible variables to achieve ideal material properties
• Operate revolutionary robotic loom to create apparel products and fabric swatches
• Source materials for small and large‑scale runs
• Work with material vendors and suppliers on testing and standards
• Conduct detailed analysis of weave quality and help brainstorm ways to iterate and improve
• Identify limitations of technical approaches and brainstorm new approaches
• Work with hardware engineering team to ideate and develop manufacturing technology
• Support the design, development, testing, and commercialization of our new weaving technology
• Interface with the team to understand testing and experiment needs, develop test plans, perform or coordinate tests, and analyze and communicate results
• Coordinate testing and new functionality integration activities with engineers and technicians
• Coordinate, plan, and execute product runs

Requirements

Ideal Qualities

• BS, MS, or PhD in Textile Engineering, Textile Technology, Fiber Science, Materials Science, or related fields
• Extensive experience with fabric development
• Strong knowledge of fiber and polymer science
• Experience sourcing for apparel and textile manufacturing, especially yarn
• Experience designing, conducting, and analyzing experiments
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience and comfort working with [ideally textile] machinery and robotics. This is not a small project, and candidate is expected to be on their feet for full days at a time.
• Open to working full time on‑site in Emeryville for testing and debugging.
• Energized by new ideas in apparel and product manufacturing. Comfortable in a fast‑paced early‑stage startup environment. Flexible and calm in the face of ambiguity.

Bonus Points

• Manufacturing or factory experience
• Experience with weaving in the industrial setting, including yarn prep and woven draft patterning.
• Experience running fabric production
• Knowledge of fabric & garment finishing methods
• Statistical & data analysis knowledge and experience
• Experience working on fast‑paced early stage R&D projects
• Automation and robotics experience
• Familiarity with hardware engineering design and implementation practices
• Familiarity with basic programming concepts

Our philosophy

We won’t roll our eyes if your socks don’t match. We get it. But then, if you spend those extra few minutes in the morning matching your socks and shirt, we get that too. Our workspaces are sometimes spotless and sometimes chaotic, and we celebrate messy exploration. We work through complex problems but generate simple and elegant solutions. We strive to look at things differently, and never do anything solely because “that’s the way it’s always been done.”

We’re a team of designers and engineers, industry‑veterans and serial entrepreneurs, artists and developers. We’re aspiring chess masters and climbers, bakers and photographers. Originally spun out of Stanford and the University of Colorado, we now call the Bay Area home, with strong ties to Hong Kong. We are looking for teammates who share our desire to work on ambitious problems and leave the world better than we found it.

unspun is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to being a diverse team that reflects a broad range of background, thought, and experience. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, status as an individual with a disability, status as protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristics. Women, minorities, and people from underrepresented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please note: Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our teammates and their families. As such, unspun requires all on‑site employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

• self-regulated vacation policy
• comprehensive (gold & platinum) health/dental/vision insurance (or equivalent cash bonus if already insured)
• company sponsored 401k
• monthly gym membership or relevant online education grant of up to $150/month