Associate Technical Designer

Overview

The Associate Technical Designer manages the fit and construction of garments for a single category of DICK’s Sporting Goods vertical brand products (approximately 30-40 products/season). The role involves delivering high-quality products in alignment with brand standards and athlete expectations.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Facilitate fit sessions to document technical adjustments and improve garment fit and appearance.
• Analyze changes and translate information into a technical package ensuring alignment with specifications, construction, and overall appearance.
• Create block patterns and technical specifications by brand/classification in support of brand profile, design vision, and appropriate athlete base.
• Build technical specifications including technical illustrations, construction details, seam specifications, measurement specifications, and trim requirements.
• Track, record, and organize garments/information to ensure timely fit sessions from prototypes to production approval; create and maintain fit matrix by brand and product type; organize pattern blocks; overlap and compare patterns in Optitex for managers; plot patterns for review and correction.
• Collaborate with Product Manager and Design team to translate product design and style vision into fit and quality level by developing technical specification.
• Run fittings, create initial specs, make spec adjustments, and communicate recommendations to Product Manager and Designers to ensure best product delivery.
• Work cross-functionally with Design, Product Management, Sourcing, and Merchandising teams to align on strategic intent of the brand.
• Participate in milestone development meetings to provide insight on measurement specifications and product history to engineer costs in development.
• Communicate with overseas vendors for tech pack and sample development questions; make recommendations in collaboration with cross-functional teams on matters pertaining to specs, patterns, construction, and techniques to improve fit, balance, and overall quality of garment.
• Partner with HK office TD team for execution of product and problem-solving; participate in production quality issues escalated to QC and TD Directors by providing background information and recommending possible solutions in their product category.
• Ensure all time and action calendar deadlines are met; demonstrate understanding of the calendar and ability to identify potential roadblocks and provide leadership to navigate past roadblocks without impacting delivery time.

Tech Pack Creation and Maintenance

• Participate in tech pack hand-offs at the start of each season; complete technical portion of new tech packs and build construction sketches.
• Work with cross-functional partners to fill in missing information for final vaulting to vendor.
• Interpret designer’s vision and define through specifications and detail drawings for clear, concise, and accurate Tech Packs on all aspects related to technical design.
• Audit Tracking Reports, ETA’s of sample arrival, and Cut dates in alignment with the time and action calendar for assigned brand.
• Escalate potential misses to deadlines to leadership in a timely manner, including problem resolutions.

Competitive Research and Analysis

• Review specifications and grades to ensure relevancy in the marketplace and to the consumer.
• Proactively provide update opportunities and recommendations.
• Purchase competitor’s samples, measure samples, and document specs onto competitive review forms.
• Assist in analyzing the data and presenting the information to Design, Product Management, and Merchandising when necessary.
• Complete wear tests to ensure product specifications meet athlete’s expectations as it relates to quality.

PLM

• Tracks arrival of samples; organizes and maintains garments in the sample room as well as filing information and hard copy patterns.
• Keeps tracking reports updated (Qlik; other enterprise reporting platforms).
• Communicates and partners with Design, Sourcing team, and manufacturer to protect integrity of set specifications.
• Works on more cost-effective methods of garment construction with help from Technical Designer.
• Attends all milestone meetings and weekly brand meetings.