Textile Designer

Package Description

Britax Childcare is an international market leader in the manufacture and distribution of child safety car seats and strollers. The global market is divided into three regions: Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific.

Australia is the largest business in Asia Pacific, known as Britax Childcare Pty Ltd and is based in Port Melbourne. The primary brands are Britax, Safe-n-Sound, Steelcraft, Hipod and Babylove. 

The business operates under the following values:

Care:     We care about protecting the dreams of our customers, our people, and our world. Realised by outstanding safety, fostering our employees with a commitment to improving lives.

Trust:   We trust in our products to protect the dreams of our customers all over the world. We trust in our people who come together with a common purpose, where differences make us better and enable us to create an environment where everyone belongs.

Curious:  We are curious because we ask questions and connect with our people, by listening thoughtfully, elevating their voices, and ensuring their dreams are our starting point.

This position is responsible for the Design and Development of new soft goods ranges for Car Seats (CRS) and Wheel goods (WG) products.  The primary focus of the role is to interpret trend direction, develop new design concepts and implement these designs into the CRS and Wheel goods portfolios for the APAC region.  This includes responsibility for managing all technical aspects, cost estimations and sampling related to the soft good designs i.e., technical drawings, test requirements, regulatory requirements, Costed BOM’s, prototype and production sampling.

DUTIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES:

The following are the key responsibilities for the role:

1. Soft goods development

• Develop fabric / textile design from brief through to on product concept, suitable for mass production.
• Liaise with offshore sourcing office to ensure soft goods / fabrics are developed in line with project timing plans.
• Liaise with offshore suppliers to remain up to date with the latest in soft good development.
• Develop soft goods with an understanding of supply sources, product costs, MOQ’s and manage in line with each project budget.

1. Technical requirements and specifications management

• Manage and maintain existing fabric / textile library.
• Coordinate all testing requirements and maintain testing record database.
• Approve & manage lab dips / strike offs / fabric submissions and counter samples.
• Create and manage soft goods specifications, including BOM and drawings, with internal and offshore suppliers / sourcing team.
• WG – Create Product specifications.

1. Trend direction and insight development

• Conduct textiles and fashion trend research that can be used to develop concepts for future soft goods ranges across all product groups.
• Create mood boards and other trend tools to ensure we are ahead of the market.
• Explore new textile / soft goods attributes, developments and techniques.

1. Sample Preparation and Product/Marketing support

• Arrange samples for marketing photo shoots and support these events as required.

REPORT RELATIONSHIPS:

• The position reports to the Director of Engineering & Product Development
• The position has close working relationships with the CRS and WG Product Management Team as well as the Lead Project and CAD engineers.
• The position will also work closely with the Britax QA department for ISIR and master sample approvals.
• The position will maintain a relationship with the Global R&D operation to apply relevant global trends / developments and style guides, where applicable.

COMPETENCIES, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Degree qualification in fashion / textiles
• Understand style, fit & construction of textiles and how to apply this onto products
• Understand and have an affinity for fabric constructions & compositions.
• Have experience working in a textile or fashion business preferable where fabrics have been used with other materials such as plastic or metal.
• Have a great eye for style, design and colour.
• Have the ability to identify new fashion trends and opportunities.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills (both written and oral).
• Ability to work on multiple projects and deliver on time.
• Customer focused, accurately interpreting and representing clients' ideas & new fashion trends.
• Strong computer skills, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Microsoft Office – Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint essential.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Ability to work as part of a team to deliver business/product outcomes within an innovative and entrepreneurial culture.
• Analyse Design trends & market performance, understand market share, competition and industry trends.
• Clear analytical and commercial sense and understanding
• Experience in communicating with overseas suppliers & manufacturers – particularly Asian region.
• Creative problem solver
• Organised, motivated, with attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills