kate spade new york Looking for Manager, Technical Design at New York, New York Full Time

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles. 

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

Job Title:  Manager Technical Design, Kate Spade RTW

Primary Purpose:  The Manager Technical Design, Kate Spade RTW is an individual contributor responsible for the technical design process from development to commercialization.  Responsible for analyzing and evaluating garments with correct fit specifications and brand aesthetic.  They are a critical cross functional partner to the Design and Product Development teams.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Technical Design to…

• • • Create and update specification tech packs, including detailed technical sketches, graded measurements and construction details
    • Manage all aspects of fittings, technical issues and product evaluations.
    • Manage the adherence to product time/action calendars.
    • Communicate deviations from calendar, facilitate resolutions and resolve issues. 
    • Participate in research and development of quality standards for the Technical design department.
    • Establish strong relationships with cross functional and global partners.
    • Delegate and prioritize workload.
    • Influence and navigate through difficult situations with little or no supervision.
    • Drive solutions for garment fit & execution.
    • Work out of the box, multitask and juggle ad hoc projects and processes for quick accurate turnaround.
    • Partner closely with design and interpret design intent.

The accomplished individual will possess…

• Bachelor’s degree in Fashion, or equivalent industry experience preferred.
• 5-8 years’ experience in technical design preferred.
• Experience in both woven & knitted product.

An outstanding professional will have…

• Attention to detail.
• Strong sense of urgency & ability to work independently.
• Organized, accurate and articulate.
• Proficiency in Excel, Illustrator & Outlook, pattern making, sewing, garment construction and engineering. 
• Understanding of manufacturing and product development process.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and influencing skills.
• Good eye for proportion.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills.
• Product risk mitigation.
• Strong presentation skills.

Strong connections and relationships to sample rooms, patternmakers, trim resources.

Our Competencies for All Employees

• Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
• Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers

• Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person’s career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Kate Spade is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant’s or employee’s qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under the consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. #LI-AH1 Visit Kate Spade at www.katespade.com.