Asst Fabric Merchandising Manager

Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

Responsibilities

• To develop and counter-develop fabric qualities to align with company brand requirements or Global Procurement strategies, e.g. increase offshore locations/support localization, and evaluate the need for new fabrics before development
• Partnering cross-functionally with Sourcing and PDC for quality and costing issues, or the wash team to ensure the wash program and bulk production meet CRI standards. Coach and develop new techniques with potential mills to extend their capacity/capability in line with strategic direction   
• Provide seasonal / bi-seasonal R&D / trend presentation package to Design / PDC, and hold accountable for artwork development for specialty or new technique and follow through the testing to secure consistency and application on bulk
• Review execution of development yardage, approval of 1st bulk for new fabric, special techniques including opt-out fabric to red flag any potential issues or setting acceptable tolerance to align with QA and sourcing partners
• Partner with the Global Procurement team to maintain the mill matrix and take the pre-mill assessment/audit to oversee the capability of the new mill/factory and safeguard strong relationships with satellite offices to leverage talent and in-country resources  

Requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree in textiles-related discipline will be advantageous. 
• Strong knowledge of woven/knit fabric construction, production process QC procedures and inspection analysis. Familiar with US & Canada children’s wear regulatory and safety standards 
• Knowledge of traceability process, sustainable material (Organic, Recycled) and application of Oekotex certificate
• Ability to partner cross-function and cross-location. Flexibility to limited travel on a need basis
• Fluent in English and Mandarin. Proficiency in Office 365 applications is required.