Product Development Lead, Sustainable Materials & Innovation

Levi Strauss•San Francisco, CA

2d•$92,300 - $135,300•Hybrid

About The Position

Calling all originals: At Levi Strauss & Co., you can be yourself — and be part of something bigger. We’re a company of people who like to forge our own path and leave the world better than we found it. Who believe that what makes us different makes us stronger. So add your voice. Make an impact. Find your fit — and your future. As Product Development Lead for Sustainable Materials & Innovation, you will define validate, and scale sustainability into commercial product. You will lead a major cross-functional program to determine which fabrics can incorporate recycled cotton and potentially other preferred fibers, while protecting product quality, durability, and consumer experience. You will also play a critical part in partnering with Global Design. This partnership will scale innovation across product categories, including Tops and Bottoms. Additionally, you will prepare Product Development for the latest Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations for textiles. About the Job Collaborate with Product Creation, Materials Supply Chain, Global Sustainability, and Innovation teams to integrate sustainable practices into product lifecycles. Lead end-to-end product development enablement for sustainable materials, translating innovation into manufacturing-ready solutions. Define a fabric qualification framework that identifies where we can integrate mechanically recycled cotton by fabric type, construction, weight, performance requirements, and finishing. Establish clear commercialization gates from concept through pilot and scale, ensuring agreement on quality, cost, and timing. Build partnerships with mills and suppliers to assess capability, manage pilot runs, validate manufacturability, and support scale-up. Oversee durability and performance success criteria for redeveloped fabrics, including wash/wear, abrasion, tensile strength, pilling, dimensional stability, and colorfastness. Partner with Quality and Testing teams to define fit-for-purpose lab and wear testing protocols. Guide root-cause analysis and corrective actions for material and fabric quality issues identified during development or pre-production. Maintain data and systems discipline, ensuring materials meet technical specifications, compliance standards, brand expectations and accurate documentation captured in PLM and other product systems. Manage development execution against the Go-To-Market calendar, partnering with Product Development teams to ensure delivery of prototypes, samples, and pre-production materials. Partner with Global Design to expand and scale material and product innovations from a Product Development standpoint. Collaborate with Sustainability and Compliance teams to embed EPR readiness, circularity, and regulatory requirements into product development processes. About You 7+ years of experience in apparel product development, materials development, fabric R&D, or textile engineering. Experience with fabric construction, fiber behavior, finishing processes, and their impact on durability and performance. Experience leading development programs from concept through production. Background in quality, testing, and performance standards for apparel fabrics. Experience working directly with mills, suppliers, and global sourcing partners. Lead without formal authority in a matrixed organization. Familiarity with circularity, regulatory considerations in apparel, experience with recycled cotton or other preferred fibers.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in apparel product development, materials development, fabric R&D, or textile engineering.
Experience with fabric construction, fiber behavior, finishing processes, and their impact on durability and performance.
Experience leading development programs from concept through production.
Background in quality, testing, and performance standards for apparel fabrics.
Experience working directly with mills, suppliers, and global sourcing partners.
Lead without formal authority in a matrixed organization.
Familiarity with circularity, regulatory considerations in apparel, experience with recycled cotton or other preferred fibers.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with Product Creation, Materials Supply Chain, Global Sustainability, and Innovation teams to integrate sustainable practices into product lifecycles.
Lead end-to-end product development enablement for sustainable materials, translating innovation into manufacturing-ready solutions.
Define a fabric qualification framework that identifies where we can integrate mechanically recycled cotton by fabric type, construction, weight, performance requirements, and finishing.
Establish clear commercialization gates from concept through pilot and scale, ensuring agreement on quality, cost, and timing.
Build partnerships with mills and suppliers to assess capability, manage pilot runs, validate manufacturability, and support scale-up.
Oversee durability and performance success criteria for redeveloped fabrics, including wash/wear, abrasion, tensile strength, pilling, dimensional stability, and colorfastness.
Partner with Quality and Testing teams to define fit-for-purpose lab and wear testing protocols.
Guide root-cause analysis and corrective actions for material and fabric quality issues identified during development or pre-production.
Maintain data and systems discipline, ensuring materials meet technical specifications, compliance standards, brand expectations and accurate documentation captured in PLM and other product systems.
Manage development execution against the Go-To-Market calendar, partnering with Product Development teams to ensure delivery of prototypes, samples, and pre-production materials.
Partner with Global Design to expand and scale material and product innovations from a Product Development standpoint.
Collaborate with Sustainability and Compliance teams to embed EPR readiness, circularity, and regulatory requirements into product development processes.