Footwear Technical Developer & QA Lead
Free People
- Gurgaon, Haryana
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Daily oversight over FP factory base; align with vendors and factories for review of product at key milestone dates to keep production on schedule, maintain communication for drop-ins and pre-planned meetings and Final AQL quality inspections.
- Partner with FP home office design and product team to evaluate expectations and trouble shoot issues with FP Footwear Technical Team throughout product lifecycle.
- Keen sense of footwear and corresponding nomenclature and processes; lasts, patterns, tooling, components, etc.
- Fit checking samples ahead of dispatch to FP home office, align with FP technical team that grading was done to spec.
- Collaborate with factories to ensure accurate corrections during Risk Assessments.
- Supporting testing standards and QA inspection requirements set by home office, ensures follow through from vendor/factory side to stay on target.
- Coordinate with third party inspectors during AQL and Final Inspection reviews prior to handover, schedule follow up inspections through self-lead checks with vendor’s QC team where required.
- Manage Final AQL inspections where necessary and provide full report for home office team.
- Help keep all points of production lifecycle on track to maintain speed to market agility.
- 7-10 years in the footwear industry with an ideal background in the following areas:
- 4+ years in footwear product development
- 3+ years in footwear quality assurance, quality control, or factory production quality assurance
- Understanding last development, upper and outsole construction, pattern engineering and fit
- Familiarity with 2D/3D software and tech pack review
- Proficient in Microsoft Office programs (Final AQL reports)
- Strong knowledge of leathers and fabrications
- Experience in interpreting quality standards set by international organizations like ASTM, ISO, SATRA, etc. and integrating brand specific protocols.
- Understanding of lab testing and failure analysis
- Hands-on experience in factory with on-site development and QA experience is strongly preferred
- Ability to work across time zones with home office team
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Ability to self-manage schedule
- Capability to travel weekly to visit vendors and factories, location contingent upon sampling and production schedule