Senior Textile Innovation Specialist

Who We Are:

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (KTB) is the parent company of Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic, with owned manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Nicaragua. Kontoor also owns and operates over 140 retail stores across the globe. Our global company employs more than 15,000 people in 65 countries, with world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and regional headquarters in Geneva and Hong Kong.

Job Posting:

Senior Textile Innovation Specialist

Job Summary

Kontoor Brands is seeking an experienced Innovation Specialist to join our team and drive product differentiation for our iconic brands, Wrangler and Lee. Our innovation function focuses on delivering new consumer benefits through functional and performance enhancements in apparel. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of raw materials, yarns, fabrics, fibers, chemicals, and the manufacturing processes involved in textile production.

Key Responsibilities:

• Product Differentiation:Develop unique and differentiating characteristics and functional performance in the existing and the new products using fibers, polymers, chemical finishes and treatments, coatings, surface modifications, yarn spinning technologies, weave designs, knit designs, and other techniques.
• Experimentation and Optimization:Conduct experiments and learn from them to create optimized materials and processes.
• Testing and Analysis:Support and develop test methods where none exist, perform testing and analysis related to all research and development activities, and new product development projects. Operate testing instruments related to various fabric testing.
• Strategic Partnerships:Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with external vendors, technology providers, and academia. Seek new ideas and materials from outside the traditional industry that could be relevant to our applications.
• Upstream Collaboration:Collaborate with upstream value chain partners such as mills, chemical and fiber companies, and machinery companies to innovate as well as ensure seamless integration of innovations.
• Reporting:Create, develop, maintain, and regularly update reports, capturing all relevant data and filing reports in the database.

Qualifications:

• At least 8 years of experience in R&D, manufacturing in textile and related Industry
• BS/MS or PhD - Textile, Chemical, Material Engineering.
• Extensive knowledge of raw materials, yarns, fabrics, fibers, chemicals, and textile manufacturing processes.
• Proven ability to experiment and optimize materials and processes.
• Expertise in developing unique and differentiating product characteristics and functional performance.
• Experience in developing and performing testing and analysis for research and development activities.
• Strong skills in creating, developing, maintaining, and updating reports.
• Ability to develop strategic partnerships and collaborate with downstream value chain partners.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.

Experience

• At least 8 years of experience in R&D and/or manufacturing in textile or related Industry

Education

• BS/MS or PhD - Textile, Chemical, Material Engineering.

Skills

• Analytical
• Experimental and Good Recordkeeping
• Systems Thinking
• Excellent Communicator
• Networking

Why Kontoor Brands?

At Kontoor, we offer a comprehensive benefit package to fit your lifestyle. Our benefits are crafted with the same care as our products.

When our employees are healthy, secure, and well, they bring their best selves to work. Kontoor Brands supports you with a competitive benefits program that provides choice and flexibility to meet your and your family's needs - now and in the future. We offer resources to support your physical, emotional, social, and financial wellbeing, plus benefits like discounts on our apparel. Kontoor Brands also provides four weeks of Paid Parental Leave to eligible employees who are new parents, Flexible Fridays, and Tuition Reimbursement.

We are proud to offer a workplace culture centered on equitable opportunities and a sense of belonging for all team members. Here we have a global workforce of high-performing teams that both unlocks our individual uniqueness and harnesses our collaborative talents.