Materials Development Coordinator

Responsible for assisting the kate spade Materials Development team with the development, commercialization and timely delivery of innovative fashion leathers, color & hardware from design concept through production.
Materials Development Coordinator
The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Materials Development and Sourcing to...
Organize, maintain, and track material development information and references

• Specific to leather and hardware
• Leather
  • Work with Senior Manger to launch new developments based on Design requests
  • Follow up with RMS + global team on development execution
  • Track + update delivery into master materials charts
  • Communicate any delays to appropriate teams
  • Check in, label + swatch new developments
  • Add new developments to materials board

• Hardware
  • Work with Manager to launch new developments based on Design/HW Design requests
  • Follow up with RMS on technical drawings
  • Daily communication with HW Design team on any comments, questions, concerns
  • Track + update delivery into master hardware chart
  • Communicate any delays to appropriate teams
  • Check in, label + distribute HW to internal teams as needed
  • Filing of detail sheets, hardware photos + 3D files

• Maintain material development charts
• Accurate follow up with overseas suppliers for status updates
  • Specific to leather and hardware
  • Daily communication with global raw material suppliers and global sourcing teams in Asia and Italy
• Ensure that the ECVision database is complete, accurate and updated in a timely manner
  • Specific to leather and hardware data entry - creating all new seasonal materials in system
  • Awareness of how information flows downstream
  • High accuracy + attention to detail is needed
• Possess an awareness of the product development timeline and understand how their function relates to the big picture
  • Weekly review of calendar and upcoming milestones with Manager + Sr Manager
  • Able to prioritize + work on multiple seasons + projects at one time
  • Awareness of how daily tasks/developments impact overall development calendar
• Proactively communicate with the team and cross-functional partners about material development status, material sample orders, and any delays/issues
  • Attend weekly Design meetings
  • Attend weekly cross functional team meetings
• Collaborate with team to maintain and organize an efficient material and color library as well as the archiving system that includes development folders and article masters.
  • Specific to leather and hardware
  • Leather color development
    • Launch color proxies
    • Create sample requests

• • • Track + check in color proxies
    • Distribution of proxies to internal teams
  • Hardware
    • Maintain and update master HW library
  • Leather
    • Prep article masters for review
    • Maintain and update article master library
  • Sourcing
    • Maintain and update sourcing library
• Maintain clear communications within the internal and external teams
  • Daily emails
  • Global calls as needed
• Attend cross-functional meetings as needed
• Special projects as assigned

The accomplished individual will possess...

• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal

• Sense of urgency and ability to work in a fast paced environment
• A true team player with strong interpersonal skills
• Highly organized and detail oriented
• Ability to multi-task and balance high priority situations under pressure
• Possesses creative and innovative way of thinking
• Takes proactive approach with strong problem solving skills
• Flexibility to adapt to an evolving environment
• Analytical skills to interpret and react to information accurately
• Material knowledge - leather and hardware

An outstanding professional will have...

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Computer proficiency in Excel, Window, Word, Power Point, PLM and ECVision
• Currently working in related fields