Materials Sourcing Specialist (Footwear)

GENERAL FUNCTION

Co-ordinate Non-Leather materials and components for PD process and bulk production aligned with PE Asia, PE USA, Planning, QE from Global sourcing team. Responsible for any material quality and delivery issue to ensure production quality meets expectation and specification.

PRIMARY DUTIES

1. Communicate and coordinate with US designers and development teams to collect new material demands, conduct market research and source innovative footwear materials in line with design concepts and product positioning.
2. Partner with the global sourcing team to promote new material sample development, track the delivery schedule of development samples strictly, and resolve material quality issues during the sample development phase in a timely manner.
3. Mediate & help solve quality claims arising between Brand, factory & supplier as necessary.
4. Work with PE team to ensure selected materials are fit for purpose.
5. Support Coordination & Planning Operations team (CPO) to achieve on time in full delivery production orders. Ensure that all deadlines are met standard protocols are delivered on time from T2 suppliers.
6. Carry out on-boarding process for new suppliers to include vendor compliance audits.
7. Perform other projects as required/assigned by Materials Supply Chain Managers.
8. Take charge of material pricing for the assigned material category, interface with the costing team closely and participate in all stages of cost meetings to leverage professional material knowledge and market insights to propose cost-saving ideas and feasible optimization solutions,
9. Collaborate with the QA team to participate in material quality inspection and problem analysis, provide professional material-related opinions on quality defects, delivery impacts and corrective action plans, and drive the effective resolution of material quality problems.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED

1. 4+ yrs experience in shoe materials, footwear manufacturing or related industries.
2. Working knowledge of Materials, Manufacturing processes.
3. Good analytical and problem solving skills.
4. Ability to communicate with both internal and external partners.
5. Must be fluent in written & spoken English. Spoken Chinese is a bonus.
6. Good organizational skills.
7. Computer literate, MS Office applications and MS Outlook.
8. Knowledge of Restricted Substance Legislation preferred.

WORKING CONDITIONS

1. Based at one of the Wolverine offices situated in factory environment (as assigned).
2. Approx 40-50% of time requires travel to local factories/suppliers/material fairs as needed.
3. Periodic travel will also be required.