Engineer, Commercialization, Footwear

The Footwear Commercialization Engineer is responsible for bringing VF owned brand footwear designs to life by engineering products for efficient manufacturability, lowest cost and highest quality and performance. Based on one of VF key manufacturing regions, within one or more of VF’s strategic vendors, this role serves as a critical liaison between the VF development and production teams, ensuring that product intent is maintained while meeting commercial and operational requirements.

You will work hands-on with factory and brand development teams, ensuring commercialization best practice feedback is captured early within the Product development cycle. As VF’s commercialization engineer, you will create in partnership with the vendor the extreme fit and wear test samples, conduct tooling reviews, and conduct pre-production trials (T4) to ensure product readiness to hand-off to VF production teams – ensuring VF’s high standards of quality, comfort and durability are maintained.

What you will do:

• Execute the commercialization process, use your SME production knowledge to ensure viability of development samples to commercialization requirements.
• Partner with brand and vendor development, engineering, and production teams to ensure accuracy in pattern, fit, materials and assembly technics and ensure PD and vendor teams have conducted correct laboratory testing to ensure product performance.
• Lead / track extreme fit trial schedules are conducted by brand approved fit and wear test teams and remain on track to product BR time-line – reporting each stage to the cross functional stakeholders.
• Track and hold accountable downstream and update stream teams against timelines to ensure BR and T4 readiness.
• You will partner with VF’s nominated GMS mold tooling team to ensure timelines for extreme and full-size tooling align with planning guidance for BR and production timeframes.
• You will partner with VF’s costing team to validate sample and production patterns against yield utilization.

Skills for Success

• Years of related professional experience: 3 years relevant experience in footwear commercialization or production environments working for reputable, fashion, retail or consumer-facing multinational organizations.
• Educational position requirements: Degree holder in Textiles, Eq./Apparel/ Footwear related fields.
• Subject Expert In: Footwear engineer, LEAN manufacturing, Automation, patterns, laboratory standards and testing / materials.
• Able to breakdown complex engineering situations and information into easily communicable mails in a verbal or written format.

What we expect you already know:

• Knowledge of Footwear with a key focus on all technical constructions, laboratory testing, material performance, fit and wear, LEAN production, automation and speed development.
• Ability to operate on your own or within a cross-functional, multi-cultural team and be seen as a positive contributor.
• Ability to communicate technical feedback in an impactful and easy to understand format to ensure fast buy-in for troubleshooting.
• A strong understanding of paper patterns creation and an understanding of digital product creation will be a strong advantage.
• Strong upholder of VF’s core pillars.
• Language Proficiency: Excellent English – Mandarin / Vietnamese a plus.

What we will teach you:

• Being part of a business that is Purpose led enabling one to have a positive impact on communities around the world, giving greater meaning to the work that we do.
• You will work with a team of diverse and sharp minds that operate with an inclusive and global mindset because our differences are what make us stronger together.
• We will provide you with the best in class, work environment, well-being policies and workplace flexibility that is about helping you show up and lean into life with your whole self – emotionally, physically and socially.