Materials Associate, Men's

Kith•Brooklyn, NY

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Materials Associate, Mens supports the sourcing, development, execution, and tracking of raw materials for special projects, brand collaborations, and inline collections across apparel and graphics. This role assists in ensuring material developments align with design intent, quality standards, costing objectives, and key calendar milestones throughout the development process. The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, and eager to learn, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. This individual will work closely with internal cross-functional teams, vendors, mills, and factories to support material development activities, maintain accurate records, and help drive projects forward from concept through production readiness.

Requirements

3-5+ years of experience in Raw Materials, Materials Development.
Men’s experience is preferred.
Solid understanding of garment construction.
Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight timelines.
Experience working with overseas factories, mills, and vendors.
Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive and solution-oriented mindset.
Analytical and problem-solving mindset with the ability to balance creative vision and commercial objectives.
Effective communication, relationship-building, and presentation skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and PLM systems; Google Sheets experience a plus.

Nice To Haves

Highly organized with strong attention to detail.
Skilled at prioritizing and managing time in fast-paced environments.
Clear and effective communicator across teams and stakeholders.
Solutions-oriented with a proactive, problem-solving mindset.

Responsibilities

Support the sourcing and development of fabrics, and specialty materials across multiple product categories and seasonal projects.
Partner with Design, Product Development, Production, Technical Design, and external vendors to support material developments that align with design intent, quality standards, costing targets, and calendar deadlines.
Assist in managing seasonal and project-based developments, including reviewing bulk submits for final bulk approval.
Serve as a point of contact for day-to-day material development communications with internal teams, mills, factories, and suppliers.
Attend vendor meetings, trade shows, and material presentations to research new material opportunities and support sourcing initiatives.
Collect, maintain, and analyze material data including pricing, MOQ information, lead times, country of origin (COO), testing requirements, supplier capabilities, and development costing.
Follow up with vendors to obtain required development documentation, including Fabric Data Sheets (FDS), testing reports, performance assessments, and approval submissions.
Track and coordinate all material development approvals, including lab dips, strike-offs, knit-downs, handlooms, sample yardage, custom prints, jacquards, colors, artwork, and bulk material approvals.
Maintain seasonal material development calendars, WIP reports, milestone deadlines, and approval trackers while proactively communicating development risks and delays.
Coordinate material shipments, allocations, split shipments, routing updates, and tracking information while assisting with logistics issue resolution.
Review material submissions for completeness and support evaluation of quality, color accuracy, print execution, construction details, handfeel, and testing results.
Process development invoices, shipment documentation, vendor requests, and other administrative tasks in a timely and accurate manner.
Prepare seasonal material boards, binders, presentations, and reference standards for milestone meetings and reviews.
Participate in sample reviews, fittings, costing discussions, production handoff meetings, and other cross-functional development milestones.
Document development comments, approvals, pass-off notes, and vendor communications to ensure accurate recordkeeping and seamless transition to production.
Maintain accurate material data within Revo, internal trackers, shared drives, and other development management systems.
Organize and maintain material libraries, archives, development spaces, and seasonal material submissions, including receiving, labeling, distributing, and tracking incoming materials and sample yardage.
Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to enhance organization, tracking, communication, and workflow efficiencies.