Director of Technical Design

Position Overview

The Director of Technical Design is a strategic and hands-on leadership role responsible for ensuring product integrity, operational excellence, and cross-functional alignment across the apparel development lifecycle. This role serves as a critical linchpin between Design, Product Development, Sourcing, Production, Quality, and global factory partners, translating creative vision into commercially viable, well-constructed, and scalable product.

While overseeing the day-to-day execution of Technical Design through managers and teams, the Director’s primary value lies in navigating complexity, resolving systemic challenges, driving innovation, and ensuring that Technical Design operates as a strategic contributor to enterprise goals—not solely a downstream execution function.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Technical Leadership

• Serve as the senior technical authority ensuring product integrity, fit consistency, construction quality, and manufacturability across all programs.
• Act as a strategic partner to Design and Product Development, balancing design intent, function, cost, and durability appropriate for children’s apparel.
• Lead complex fit approvals, grading challenges, and construction problem-solving, particularly where escalation or cross-functional alignment is required.
• Proactively identify and resolve systemic technical issues that impact speed, quality, or scalability.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Influence

• Partner closely with Design, Product Development, Sourcing, Production, and Quality to ensure seamless execution from concept through production handoff.
• Serve as a key troubleshooting resource across departments, stepping in where bandwidth, experience, or complexity exceeds team-level capabilities.
• Establish and cascade structured communication and meeting cadences to ensure clarity, accountability, and alignment at program and team levels.
• Advocate for Technical Design priorities and risks at the leadership level with clear, solution-oriented recommendations.

Operational Oversight

• Oversee New York Technical Design managers, ensuring effective prioritization across competing business needs.
• Balance timelines, quality expectations, and capacity constraints to support seasonal calendars, special projects, and urgent development needs.
• Enable rapid prototyping and iteration through 3D capabilities, reducing dependency on overseas sample transit where appropriate.
• Ensure Technical Design operations run efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with broader organizational objectives.

Systems, Process & Innovation Leadership

• Play a central role in the evolution and optimization of Technical Design systems, including internal and external PLM systems.
• Identify gaps in data flow, visibility, and process consistency; advocate for and help implement scalable solutions.
• Partner with internal teams and external vendors to enhance system functionality and adoption.
• Champion best practices, standardization, and continuous improvement across global Technical Design workflows.

Special Projects & Business Enablement

• Lead or support special projects critical to corporate initiatives, particularly those requiring deep technical expertise and cross-functional coordination.
• Manage the onboarding of new programs, retailers, or business models, ensuring Technical Design readiness and alignment.
• Anticipate technical risks related to new categories, fabrics, constructions, or sourcing strategies and proactively mitigate them.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop Technical Design leaders and high-potential team members, fostering strategic thinking and ownership.
• Establish clear competency expectations and support consistent technical proficiency across the team.
• Provide coaching, feedback, and development plans to strengthen leadership capability and succession planning.
• Build a culture of collaboration, accountability, and solution-oriented problem solving.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of Technical Design experience within apparel, with a strong preference for children’s apparel and/or mass/value retail.
• Proven experience leading Technical Design teams and influencing cross-functional partners at a senior level.
• Deep expertise in garment construction, fit, patternmaking, grading, and production troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated ability to operate strategically while remaining hands…