Responsible Materials Partner (12 months FTC)

White Stuff was established in 1985 through a simple idea. This idea grew and now we have shops and concessions in the UK and internationally, selling women’s and men’s clothing as well as beautiful accessories and homeware. Our original prints (all designed in house), intricate details and considered design touches reflect our personality and make us subtly distinctive.

Our people are at the heart of our brand, constantly moving and driving us forward. We’re sociable, talented and like minded and we’re not hierarchical or political in how we do business. We encourage entrepreneurial ideas and accountability at all levels.

Primary objective of the job:

The Responsible Materials Partner role will be a central point of contact within WS for material expertise. It is an important role supporting WS ESG Business Strategy Fabric Pillar, building material sustainability knowledge, alongside creative fabric sourcing innovation for all product categories. Meeting ambitious SBTi targets to reduce carbon impacts across WD product, will be met through full transparency of the entire WS value supply chain, driving efficiencies and partnerships to Tier 5 in collaboration with our Digital Product Passport provider. This role will provide value through the optimisation of material procurement. Scaling up consolidation and negotiation opportunities though griege booking management, down time production planning, and raw material management will drive cost save, whilst ensuring 100% more sustainable material targets are met at pace. Critical partner to the Design and Garment Technology Teams, to build fit for future innovation, trend sourcing and sustainable materials.

Responsible for material audits & due diligence management for material standards.

Who you are:

• Fashion retail experience in fabric sourcing and development with excellent sustainability knowledge across multi product, global supply chain and vendor strategy.

• Knowledgeable in product development, production processes and best practices

• Good working knowledge of product critical paths and cross costings

• In depth knowledge of fashion trends, interpreting market intel, and comp shops.

• Demonstrated technical knowledge, including jersey, knit, woven, embroidery, digital printing, yarn, greige & raw material procurement

• Global material supply chain knowledge and contacts.

• High commercial awareness and understanding of product open costings, achieving a balance between creativity and commercial implications throughout the product development process

• Innovative in the field of material newness, sustainability & circularity

• Excellent analytical and record keeping/data management skills

• Project management skills, analytical and strategic thinking skills

• Strong collaborative, organizational, and people skills

• Able to set up and establish high standards in the material procurement process with suppliers

• Able to work in a fluid, fast-paced, multi-channel environment.

• Ability to travel as needed

• Effective communication and negotiation skills

• A people’s person with the ability to build relationships and negotiate with ease.

• Highly organised with strong time, people, and project management skills.

• Independent but enjoys working in a team and have a flexible approach to working.

What you’ll be doing:

• Fabric Trend & Development: Driving innovation & newness in yarn, materials, washes and finishes, ensuring sustainability & innovation, through certified materials, is at the forefront of all material decisions
• Undertake supplier appointments, attending material exhibitions and conducting regular comp shops to research material innovations and sustainability drivers
• Sourcing material options that support circularity, sustainability, target price, technical requirements, with brand appropriate aesthetic.
• Responsible for overseeing the lifecycle of all fabrics from development and sourcing through to production, ensuring newness and excellent standards are met.
• Formulating an initial WS Fabric Strategy, with Head of Buying, to ensure White Stuff Material Sustainability targets and compliance are met. Build Fabric Supplier Material Forums to ensure WS suppliers are regularly updated.
• Providing textile knowledge training to all WS teams. Introducing a regular company Material Training Program for Retail, Design, Buying, Merch & Technical teams, prioritising sustainability.
• Driving full value chain transparency in collaboration with Digital Product Passport provider: Tier 2 Fabric Mills, Printers, Embellishers, Tanneries and Laundering Units, Tier 3 Spinners, Ginners, Tier 4 Farms: animal and agricultural, raw material manufacturing units for synthetics.
• Responsible for sourcing and building strong relationships with the best factories and mills globally, while working closely with the Product Teams to help execute their creative ideas, to ensure innovation, continuous improvement, and customer value.
• Building and maintaining an affective Fabric Library. Supporting the move towards a Circular Design model, building a Digital Material Library to drive Material Circularity
• Overseeing WS fabric liability to ensure prompt use up.
• Building towards a preferred mill list, road mapping to build partnerships through to mill level leading to a future nomination & accreditation process to meet wider ESG ambitions.
• With the Technical Manager investigate and adopt new innovative sustainable fibres & materials. Evaluate provenance and commerciality with clear business objectives.
• Driving sustainable material standards and due diligence for the business. Training all product, finance, logistics and merchandising teams on material standards & drive the business chain of custody procedure.
• Attending annual material standard audits and organising all documentation
• Analysing and gathering product and material data for our annual carbon reporting submission
• Driving circular design initiatives for the business through training and collaboration, ensuring this is a priority across all product team (buying, design & technical)

What you’ll need:

• Ability to work in partnership with the design teams, understanding and interpreting their creative aesthetic and design vision and translating this to suppliers to ensure WS is best in market for beautiful, high quality fabrics.
• Preparing and presenting seasonal material presentations with the design team to introduce new material characteristics, providing innovative technique suggestions across yarns, blends, structure, wash and finish, alerting potential risks to the team during the development stage.
• Working closely with Technologists, advise design teams simply on fabric technical matters, attending presentations and meetings, providing feedback on fabric feasibility, brainstorm ideas, and solutions to ensure the design vision is translated into innovative sustainable materials.
• Developing a transparent fabric supplier base to support the company's growth opportunities and meeting ambitious ESG targets.
• With the Head of Buying and Technical Manager, develop and maintain an evolving and robust fabric supplier matrix, monitoring performance against capacity, capability, sustainability innovation, cost, and country of origin
• With Head of Buying, drive a company fabric pricing structure with best lead-times
• Guide teams on broad textile knowledge and mill specific processes and technologies.
• Review and set up a WS sample length process to drive new materials and sustainable innovations with cost save efficiencies and instilling a 1 st time right mentality.

What we will offer you:

As a Responsible Materials Partner at White Stuff you will be entitled to an array of great benefits, some of which include:

• Hybrid working
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Up to 25 days holiday per annum
• 2 extra (paid!) days off per year to volunteer in the local community
• 50% discount
• Subsidised BUPA Dental Insurance
• Healthcare cash plan and Life Assurance
• Interest free season ticket loan
• Pension Contribution

We are committed to creating an environment where we can all be proud to work and be ourselves. Part of this commitment is being an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, and age .

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