Product Technologist

Job Title: Product Technologist – Socks & Hosiery (Ladies, Men's, Children's)

Reports To: Quality Manager

Team: Ladies Essentials  

Location: Dublin

Job Type: 12-month fixed term contract

Purpose of the Role

To ensure any product developed and supplied to Primark complies with international Quality Assurance Standards & Regulations. To work alongside buying teams, suppliers and key stakeholders to establish and maintain best practise and to meet the Primark customer's expectations.

Duties & Responsibilities

Product and Process

• Understand and support delivery of the Primark Departmental and Quality strategy to deliver the customer promise.

• Demonstrate strong technical expertise to deliver quality products that are safe, legal and fit for purpose.
• Demonstrate proven experience developing ladies, men’s, children’s including baby categories across socks and hosiery.
• Possess deep technical knowledge of socks and hosiery product construction, and fit.
• Apply strong commercial awareness to develop socks and hosiery products at entry, mid, and exit price points, understanding the requirements and differences between each.
• Partner with Buying and Design to interpret creative direction into commercially viable, well-constructed, safe and compliant products for all our retail markets.
• Provide innovative, solution-oriented approaches to product development challenges while maintaining quality, cost, compliance and speed to market.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of testing standards and an ability to commercially evaluate testing. Including knowledge for children’s testing and safety requirements.
• Responsible for ensuring all products signed off meet the relevant quality and compliance requirements. 
• Adheres to Best Practice ways of working, focusing on Risk Assessment Review / Black Seal / Gold Seal approval.
• Quality benchmarking of Primark and key competitors for fit, quality and performance.
• Working alongside the Primark Compliance team to ensure the Primark Quality Standards are in line with industry standards (Value/Volume retail).
• Demonstrates an understanding of the legal requirements for socks and hosiery products including the substantiation of claims.
• Supports and resolves quality issues in a timely manner with clear solutions and communication to all relevant stakeholders.
• Evaluating risk and ability to make commercial recommendations on quality priorities in a volume environment.
• Monitors the Returns Report to identify high returning styles/products at store level, working with the supply base and offshore team to resolve and improve future deliveries.
• Identifies risk suppliers/product for Pre-shipment and CFS inspection.
• Aware of emerging trends, innovations and legal requirements to proactively support product development.
• Liaise with retail teams to understand and interpret customer feedback on quality issues.
• Manage the customer complaints providing support to Quality Manager – conducting investigative process to a resolution.

Suppliers

• Through reporting (portal testing, store visits, pre-shipment inspections, returns and CFS reports) identify quality issues within the supply base and work with the buying teams and the Quality Manager to support solutions.
• In partnership with the buying teams and Quality Manager participate in supplier meetings to drive the quality agenda.
• Maintain regular updates to the supply base on Primark quality standards. 
• Engage with Sourcing and Ethical teams to understand supplier performance.
• Identify opportunities where process efficiencies can be developed and drive cost savings

Communication and Influence

• Through regular, timely and robust communication promote and represent Quality Assurance within the department, facilitating a culture of continuous improvement.
• Works with the Quality Manager on the strategy for the socks and hosiery teams.
• Through training and engagement with Buying and Suppliers, improve the sampling hit rate and support innovation.
• Supports and delivers departmental updates and presentations both internally and externally.
• Attends allocated department meetings representing Quality Assurance. 
• Demonstrates ability to influence Buyers, Heads of and Directors with their decision-making regarding quality standards.

Working with others / Leading and Managing others

• Coaches’ others to identify their skills, abilities and development areas and aligns these to stretching and challenging development activities while maintaining motivation.
• Conducts regular, open discussions with direct reports about their strengths and development areas, facilitating an understanding of performance expectations and the creation of formal development plans.
• Facilitates team decision making, consistency and fairness when working with others.
• Actively seeks out stretching opportunities to support own development.
• Provides training in best practice for sample approval to QA, buying teams and suppliers.
• Work in collaboration with the offshore Quality Team and buying on CFS rejections.

Our fashion isn’t one-size-fits-all and neither is our culture. Primark promotes equal employment opportunity, we strive to create an inclusive workplace where people can be themselves, access opportunities and thrive together.