Senior Specialist, Material Quality, Equipment

Key Purpose of the Job:

This role sits within VF’s Quality organization and reports to the Senior Manager, Material Quality. The role partners with Tier 2 material, Tier 1 Equipment factories, Supplier Management, Material Sourcing, Product Development, Manufacturing Engineering and Product Stewardship teams. This role supports quality assurance and risk mitigation specifically for Equipment materials. The Senior Specialist will partner with internal and external stakeholders to identify potential material quality issues and lead proactive measures to ensure consistent performance, compliance, and fitness-for-use of equipment materials. This role also supports supplier performance improvement through technical training, governance programs, and cross-functional collaboration. As a subject matter expert in Textile/PU materials, this role will educate teams, drive material knowledge sharing, and promote process excellence.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Risk Management

• Work with suppliers on execution risk mitigation at early mass production stage.

Resolve equipment material quality issues

• Independently lead the resolution of material quality issues.
• Lead structured root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and effectiveness validation.
• Ability to work independently with suppliers, FW factories, and cross-functional teams while applying sound judgment and timely escalation of complex, ambiguous or high-risk cases.

Collaborating with stakeholders

• Partner with cross-functional teams (Brands, Sourcing, Product Development, GMS, etc.) on material quality issues and process excellence.
• Collaborate with Regional Quality (RO QM) and Global Material Services (GMS) to identify quality risks at early stage and co-develop innovative solutions.
• Maintain clear, consistent communication with internal teams and material suppliers, promoting alignment and mutual understanding.
• Ensure effective testing and validation of materials, collaborating with internal labs and third-party testing facilities to support product compliance and performance.

Maintain visibility and accountability

• Maintain accurate issue records, status, risk level, next steps, and closure evidence.
• Use VF system quality data to identify recurring failure modes and systemic supplier gaps.
• Publish Monthly Supplier quality performance dashboard to suppliers and regular supplier performance update to VF leadership.

Apply technical expertise and improve capability

• Serve as the subject matter expert in fabric production including but not limited to printing, heat transfer, lamination, coating, bonding, embossing, finishing, and other surface treatments.
• Assess process conditions, specifications, testing, inspection findings, and defect patterns to determine effective resolution.
• Convert issue learnings into preventive guidance, supplier improvement priorities, and inputs to quality capability programs.

Drive Process Excellence

• Participate in functional and cross-functional projects aimed at improving material quality processes, governance, and issue management effectiveness.
• Deliver technical recommendations and best practices to improve the performance, durability, and reliability of equipment materials, while reducing quality incidents.
• Help identify process gaps and contribute to the development of standardized workflows, quality standards, and best practices.
• Develop and implement processes and guidelines to ensure quality consistency across all categories of equipment materials, from synthetics to textiles and leathers.
• You will strengthen supplier performance, improve process consistency, and apply issue learnings to prevent recurrence across the footwear supply chain
• Share learnings from issue resolution activities to improve operational consistency and effectiveness.
• Synergize best manufacturing practices across suppliers.

Training and Certification

• Lead and support the training and certification under Supplier Certification Program (SCP) of equipment material suppliers to ensure alignment with VF quality standards and proper calibration procedures to ensure consistent component quality.
• Success in this role requires strong analytical capability, disciplined execution, collaborative leadership, and commitment to accountability, process excellence, and continuous improvement.

Strategic Role Relationship Building

• Engage with Brand and VF teams to share actionable insights on equipment material quality that influence product outcomes and customer satisfaction.
• Build strong, trust-based partnerships within VF and with the global equipment supply base to advance material quality and innovation goals.
• Facilitate solution-oriented conversations with stakeholders to align material performance expectations and quality targets.

Leadership

• Exhibit strong listening, communication, and collaboration skills to guide and influence cross-functional teams toward achieving high standards in footwear material quality and performance.

Minimum Relevant Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in Textile Material manufacturing, Material quality engineering, Supplier (T2) / Equipment Vendor (T1) quality or production issue resolution within textile or equipment manufacturing.