SOREL Materials Development Manager

ABOUT THE POSITION

In the SOREL Materials Development Manager role, you will serve as the materials expert for members of the product creation team.

You will be responsible for leading, owning and managing projects that have the biggest impact on the SOREL business. You are capable of initiating and contribute to the research of emerging material trends;

recognizing and evaluating risk factors and opportunities associated with material developments. You will manage and own the materials’ seasonal development calendar and support other team members in the execution of seasonal or future state deliverables.

You will lead in the recommendation of material options to meet pricing targets and functional goals, working to assure product performance integrity through product testing (physical and field).

You will initiate and lead meetings across creation teams during various phases of development to review, evaluate, update and ultimate drive decision making processes that allows product confirmation and margin targets to be achieved.

Working with the support of the Product Development Director, the materials development manager is empowered to lead the team to continually create and build a knowledge base and stay informed about vendor capabilities and performance, factory relationships, quality issues, materials pricing, and lead times.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Initiate and contribute to research of emerging materials trends by attending material shows, machine shows, industry conferences, and staying informed with literature and industry news.

Identify viable opportunities to bring in-house to Sorel and lead implementation of new processes / technology to advance the footwear creation process or improve cost / quality or reduce environmental impact.

Develop and maintain an organized materials library, complete with up-to-date material resources, testing history and specifications.

Continuously build advanced materials expertise and work to create a network of contacts within the industry.

Manage and lead all seasonal development toolbox work Inline and Pre-Development.

Collaborate with Research, Design, Development, Marketing, Costing and Color to show sample materials that meet the criteria for the category based on material performance data.

Manage and own Materials’ seasonal development calendar and lead innovations in process creation and execution. Support other team members in the execution of seasonal deliverables.

Recognize and evaluate the risk factors associated with all material developments and communicate and influence with the product teams to ensure adherence to seasonal calendar dates.

YOU ARE

A strong team player.

Passionate about materials as it relates to footwear design and development.

Able to build strong relationships and key strategic partnerships both internal and external.

Able to wear a lot of hats and have a no task is too small an attitude.

YOU HAVE

Bachelor’s degree in product design, or relevant experience to the position.

6-8 years’ experience in new material development or execution.

Strong presentation and creative writing / thinking skills.

Proficient in MS Office suite and PowerBI preferred.

Ability to travel domestically and globally >

10% of the year

LI-JC1

Hybrid

SOREL

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.

Columbia Sportswear is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.

The Know Your Rights poster is available here : The pay transparency policy is available here : Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities.

If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.

At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding.

Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being : physical, social / emotional, financial, career and community.

Benefits that can protect your family’s financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match.

Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services).

In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24 / 7 / 365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.