Materials Development 3

About the role

Location: Beaverton, OR. Duration: 6 months. No travel expected. The contractor will work with Materials Sourcing and Materials Planning teams, Vietnam-based vendors, programmers, and engineers in machine operations. This temporary backfill ensures continuity of critical yarn development and Flyknit material commercialization processes during a leave period.

Responsibilities

• Manage new yarn development initiatives from concept through commercialization.
• Support yarn onboarding and divestment activities.
• Maintain visibility into yarn supply and operational risks.
• Coordinate with suppliers to ensure material readiness aligns with product creation and commercialization timelines.
• Partner with Materials Sourcing and Materials Planning teams to support supply planning, capacity management, inventory health, and supplier readiness across the Flyknit material portfolio.
• Identify and mitigate supply chain constraints, disruptions to onboarding/phase-out activities, and supplier issues.
• Enable uninterrupted execution of Flyknit material development and commercialization objectives.

Requirements

Experience & Education

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain or Textiles preferred.
• Client industry experience highly preferred.

Must-Have Skills

• Project management — organization and project completion.
• Strong communication skills.
• Supply chain experience.
• Proficiency with Office Suite (advanced Excel and data management capabilities).

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Textile experience.

Key Traits

• Self-starter who can work with ambiguity.
• Open to evening calls to collaborate with Asia-based partners.

Required Skills & Capabilities

Yarn Development & Material Expertise

• Understanding of yarn development and commercialization processes.
• Knowledge of yarn specifications, performance requirements, and manufacturing implications.
• Experience supporting material qualification, onboarding, and lifecycle management.

Supply Chain & Material Planning

• Understanding of material supply chains and supplier networks.
• Experience with material onboarding and divestment processes.
• Ability to identify and mitigate supply, capacity, and inventory risks.
• Knowledge of seasonal planning and material readiness processes.

Sourcing & Vendor Management

• Experience working with global suppliers and manufacturing partners.
• Strong supplier relationship management and communication skills.
• Ability to support sourcing decisions, supplier capability reviews, and issue resolution.
• Understanding of supplier capacity, lead times, and risk management.

Operations & Systems

• Experience managing material or yarn-related data and systems.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to maintain accurate material specifications, tracking, and reporting.
• Advanced Excel and data management capabilities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Proven ability to work across Materials Development, Materials Sourcing, Materials Planning, Product Development, Manufacturing Operations, and external vendors/suppliers.

Core Competencies

• Project management
• Risk identification and mitigation
• Stakeholder management
• Supply chain awareness
• Strong communication and influencing skills
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities

Preferred Experience

• Footwear, textile, yarn, or materials development experience.
• Knowledge of client product creation and commercialization processes.
• Experience supporting innovation-to-scale transitions and supplier readiness activities.