Knitwear Product Developer

Job title: Knitwear Product Developer

About the Role This role will own the end-to-end knitwear product development process within Burberry's Product Development function. It requires partnering with Designers and internal teams, and acting as a technical specialist with vendors to translate design visions into viable products while protecting Burberry's standards for quality, cost and margin.

What You'll Do

• Build and maintain a close working partnership with the Designer; act as the technical partner for design, attend fittings, and provide feedback on technical feasibility for Knitwear.
• Brainstorm ideas to translate design vision into product, ensuring target margin and maintaining Burberry's quality and integrity.
• Develop deep category knowledge (construction, yarns, raw materials, fit/silhouette) across knitwear to support the development process.
• Deliver prototypes and samples on time, to the required quality and within cost targets to achieve target margin.
• Implement and manage the critical path from concept to pre-production with design and manufacturers; monitor deadlines and resolve prototype/sample issues.
• Identify and mitigate risks at all stages; keep systems updated with 100% accuracy and alert cross-functional teams to changes to prevent delays.
• Build and maintain effective vendor relationships across EU and Asia; negotiate costs and aesthetic changes to protect design vision.
• Ensure raw material selections meet cost requirements; collaborate cross-functionally to improve quality, longevity and functionality; account for production lead times.
• Ensure products are fit for purpose, with ongoing risk assessment during development.
• Collaborate with Product Engineering to develop collections for product testing to relevant standards; negotiate aesthetic changes as needed.
• Manage raw material excess development and critical path; oversee fabric transportation to vendors and timely delivery of protos/samples to meet deadlines and margins.
• Support production meetings with vendors; confirm technical requirements for proto/samples in preparation for production.
• Support, coach and develop PD Assistants, delegating workload and helping expand their category knowledge.
• Manage time efficiently across stages of development to meet deadlines; understand critical deadlines and collaborate to avoid delays.

What We're Looking For

• Ability to partner with Senior Designers and translate creative aesthetic and vision to teams and vendors.
• Strong knowledge of apparel and product development across Menswear and Womenswear in all categories.
• Technical capability and product knowledge with ability to influence Design and provide on-the-spot solutions in garment and knitwear construction.
• Experience managing vendor relationships, delivering clear briefs and leveraging relationships to meet demands.
• Proven track record of critical path management to deliver collections on time; identify and mitigate risks.
• Budget management with commercial awareness; balance creativity with cost considerations throughout development.
• Demonstrated experience working on-site with vendors and factories; ability to deliver clear briefs and leverage relationships to meet demands.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to negotiate credibly, share information effectively, and work confidently.

Nice to Have

• Knitwear-specific experience and strong technical knowledge of yarns and construction.
• Experience with international vendor management (EU and Asia) and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong negotiation skills and ability to manage costs while protecting design intent.