CBRN Garment Designer

Avon Technologies PLC•Cadillac, MI

6d•$70,000 - $110,000•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for the design, development and technical maturation of CBRN protective garment systems and associated soft-goods interfaces, from concept through prototype, evaluation, verification support and transfer to manufacture. The role balances garment ergonomics, wearer integration, barrier performance, manufacturability, regulatory expectations, cost and programme objectives.

Requirements

Demonstrable experience designing technical garments, protective clothing, soft goods or wearable equipment from concept through development and production introduction.
Strong understanding of pattern development, garment construction, sizing, fit, grading, tolerancing, technical packs, bills of material and supplier-ready specifications.
Practical knowledge of textiles, laminates, membranes, coated fabrics, seam technologies, closures, tapes, elastics and other garment components relevant to protective clothing.
Hands-on prototyping, fitting and sample evaluation capability, with the ability to diagnose design, construction, comfort, durability and manufacturability issues.
Ability to work within a regulated product-development environment, generating clear design evidence, test rationale and configuration-controlled documentation.
Experience collaborating with external suppliers, garment manufacturers, laboratories or approval bodies to develop, evaluate and industrialize technical products.
Competence with relevant design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, PLM/technical-pack systems, 2D/3D CAD, pattern software or equivalent digital design workflows.
Methodical approach to task management, design review, problem solving, design change control and cross-functional communication.
Appreciation of cost, schedule, customer requirements and production constraints, with the judgement to optimize design decisions across competing program priorities.

Nice To Haves

Experience with CBRN, chemical protective, biological protective, flame-resistant, military, emergency response, medical, cleanroom or other high-consequence protective garments.
Familiarity with PPE certification, standards-driven design verification and test evidence requirements for protective clothing or integrated PPE systems.
Experience integrating garments with respiratory protection, hoods, gloves, boots, load carriage, communications, powered-air systems or other mission equipment.
Knowledge of human factors, wearer burden, thermal burden, dexterity, field maintainability, decontamination, packaging, storage and shelf-life considerations.
Experience with lean, Six Sigma, structured NPI, stage-gate processes, design FMEA, risk assessment or equivalent product-development governance.
Experience using SolidWorks, CLO/Optitex/Gerber/Lectra, FlexPLM/WebPDM or comparable CAD, pattern and product lifecycle tools.

Responsibilities

Develop CBRN garment concepts, patterns, assemblies and detailed specifications that meet agreed customer, user, programme and product requirements.
Translate voice-of-customer, wearer trials, threat/use-case requirements and human factors insights into practical garment architectures, features and construction details.
Design and specify textile systems, seams, closures, interfaces, reinforcement, sizing, fit, donning/doffing features, labelling and packaging requirements appropriate to CBRN protective clothing.
Lead or support prototype build activity, sample evaluation, fit sessions, user trials and design verification planning, ensuring evidence and decisions are captured in accordance with Avon procedures and quality systems.
Work closely with engineering colleagues to integrate garments with respirators, hoods, gloves, boots, harnesses, communications, powered-air systems and other PPE or mission equipment where applicable.
Create and maintain design outputs including technical drawings, pattern information, graded size data, bills of material, construction specifications, tolerance requirements, test sample definitions and supplier manufacturing packages.
Assess manufacturability and repeatability of garment designs, including seam construction, material handling, repairability (if applicable), inspection criteria, production tooling/templates and supplier capability.
Identify candidate materials, films, laminates, closures, tapes, elastics and other components, working with suppliers to obtain data, samples and prototype materials. Evaluate candidate materials using in-house and/or 3rd party test capabilities.
Support regulatory, certification and approval activities by ensuring design intent, test rationale, sample traceability and evidence packs are complete and technically coherent.
Apply structured design review, risk management and problem-solving methods to resolve performance, fit, durability, comfort, usability and production issues.
Collaborate with purchasing, quality, operations and suppliers to manage design changes, cost targets, lead times, first-article evaluation and transfer-to-production readiness.
Communicate clearly with internal stakeholders, customers, test laboratories and external partners, preparing concise technical presentations and recommendations to support design decisions.