Director Product Development and Materials

Fanatics Commerce is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise, operating a vertically integrated platform that designs, manufactures, and delivers officially licensed apparel, jerseys, headwear, and collectibles for major leagues, teams, and events worldwide. With more than 900 e-commerce sites and a global omnichannel presence across digital, in-venue, and retail, Fanatics Commerce reaches fans in over 180 countries and powers official fan experiences for many of the world's most iconic sports properties.

At Fanatics, we bring our BOLD Leadership Principles to life every day - building championship teams, obsessing over fans, acting with entrepreneurial speed, and delivering with a determined and relentless mindset.

At Fanatics Commerce, we’re more than just a leader in licensed sports merchandise – we’re a team united by a relentless passion for our fans and a commitment to innovation. We live by our BOLD Leadership principles: We Build Championship Teams, we’re Obsessed with Fans, we embrace a Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit, and we approach every challenge with a Determined and Relentless Mindset. If you’re ready to contribute to a dynamic, fast-paced environment that thrives on collaboration and growth, we want you to be part of our team.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Director, Materials & Product Development leads the Asia (Bangkok) PCC Product Development and Materials functions. This role is accountable for translating creative and commercial direction into technically sound, cost-effective, manufacturable product while ensuring fabrics, color, trims, components, construction, fit, decoration, and product specifications are developed and approved on calendar.

The Director owns regional execution from concept handoff through prototype, sampling, costing, risk assessment, Production Buy Ready, and production handoff. The role connects Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, Sourcing, Operations, Product Integrity, Sustainability, vendors, and material suppliers to resolve risk early and improve speed, quality, margin, flexibility, and on-time performance.

This leader also drives Tier 2 material strategy in alignment with Tier 1 garment sourcing, optimizes the supplier base, builds development and commercialization capabilities, and provides clear seasonal dashboards, financial outlooks, and recommendations to address cost, capacity, quality, and lead-time headwinds.

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT:

Product Development & Commercialization

• Lead the regional Product Development team and the end-to-end development process across assigned Fanatics and partner-brand product categories, from design handoff through production approval and handoff.

• Translate design intent, athlete and fan needs, and merchandising strategies into clear, executable product specifications, bills of materials, construction details, and supplier direction.

• Drive prototype, sample, fit, wear-test, costing, and approval milestones; ensure product is manufacturable, commercially viable, and ready to scale before Production Buy Ready.

• Partner with Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, Sourcing, Operations, and Product Integrity to balance aesthetics, performance, quality, cost, margin, speed, and capacity.

• Lead product and material risk-assessment gates, identify issues early, assign owners, and drive timely resolution with suppliers and cross-functional teams.

• Champion product engineering, platforming, value engineering, and process innovation that reduce development cycles, complexity, cost, and lead time without compromising consumer experience.

Materials Development & Execution

• Lead fabric, color, trim, component, and branding development, sampling, testing, approval, and commercialization for seasonal and carryover product needs.

• Provide deep technical direction on yarns, knitting, dyeing, finishing, coloration, trims, components, and material-decoration compatibility.

• Drive color accuracy and team-sport color consistency while leveraging suppliers, rationalizing color assortments, and minimizing MOQ and material liability.

• Maintain accurate and complete material specifications, RMDS records, standards, quality hangers, development trackers, and PLM data.

• Build a balanced material portfolio of proven platforms and purposeful innovation, with clear adoption criteria and scalable production pathways.

Calendar, Buy Readiness & Execution

• Own regional development calendars and drive Product Development and Materials teams to meet sample, testing, costing, approval, and Production Buy Ready milestones.

• Establish escalation protocols for late, incomplete, or failed approvals; lead root-cause analysis and corrective action plans to prevent recurrence.

• Monitor development workload, sample-room and supplier capacity, critical paths, and dependencies; rebalance resources to protect launch dates and priority programs.

• Improve development speed and first-time-right execution through standardized workflows, decision rights, disciplined data management, and clear handoffs into production.

Material Sourcing, Cost & Supplier Strategy

• Execute Tier 2 material sourcing strategies aligned to Tier 1 garment sourcing, regional capacity, duty, speed, sustainability, and business-continuity requirements.

• Source, evaluate, negotiate with, and onboard material suppliers based on capability, innovation, quality, service, cost, lead time, compliance, and geographic strategy.

• Lead counter-sourcing, material consolidation, pre-positioning, and supplier-base optimization to improve margin, responsiveness, and flexibility while managing liability.

• Provide quarterly regional material cost and market outlooks, quantify business exposure, and recommend actions to mitigate raw-material, currency, capacity, and lead-time headwinds.

• Build strong relationships with key Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 partners and ensure efficient communication across all Fanatics offices and functions.

Quality, Product Integrity & Sustainability

• Ensure all products and materials meet Fanatics, partner-brand, legal, testing, quality, sustainability, and end-use requirements before commercialization.

• Partner with Product Integrity on testing strategy, failure analysis, manufacturing trials, corrective action, and continuous improvement for material, construction, color, and decoration issues.

• Use technical expertise to prevent quality risk at concept and development stages and to resolve production issues rapidly when they occur.

• Support responsible-material and traceability objectives in partnership with Sustainability, Compliance, Sourcing, and suppliers.

Business Intelligence & Process Excellence

• Create and maintain seasonal dashboards and scorecards covering calendar adherence, Production Buy Ready, material approvals, sample performance, testing, cost, quality, supplier performance, and development throughput.

• Provide relevant market intelligence on materials, product trends, competitor activity, supplier capabilities, process technologies, capacity, innovation, and cost drivers.

• Use data to identify performance gaps and lead corrective actions with teams and suppliers; communicate risks, tradeoffs, decisions, and progress clearly to senior leadership.

• Design, document, and maintain Product Development and Materials SOPs, governance, and KPI definitions; align ways of working across PCC offices and headquarters.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Build, coach, and lead high-performing Product Development and Materials teams with clear accountabilities, priorities, performance expectations, and succession plans.

• Assess organizational capacity and capability; allocate resources based on business priorities and develop the technical, commercial, and leadership skills required for future growth.

• Create a culture of ownership, candid feedback, collaboration, disciplined execution, continuous improvement, and urgency.

• Train and influence internal teams and suppliers across product development, materials, commercialization, quality, calendar management, and production readiness.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM:

• Bachelor’s degree in Product Development, Apparel/Textile Design, Textile Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.

• 10-15+ years of progressive experience in apparel, licensed sports, performance product, textiles, or a related industry, including significant end-to-end product development and materials commercialization experience.

• 5+ years leading multidisciplinary and/or regional teams, with demonstrated ability to coach leaders and manage across cultures and time zones.

• Strong knowledge of apparel product development, garment construction, fit, costing, BOM management, materials, coloration, trims, decoration techniques, testing, quality, and manufacturing.

• Deep technical fabric knowledge, including yarn types, knitting, dyeing, finishing, blends, count, weight, strength, warmth, wicking, and other performance characteristics.

• Demonstrated success managing seasonal calendars, risk gates, sample execution, Product Buy Ready, commercialization, supplier performance, cost engineering, and on-time delivery.

• Strong commercial judgment and negotiation skills, with the ability to make clear decisions across cost, quality, speed, innovation, and risk tradeoffs.

• Excellent cross-functional leadership, communication, and stakeholder-management skills; able to influence Design, Merchandising, Sourcing, Operations, Product Integrity, Sustainability, and external partners.

• Advanced analytical capability and proficiency with Microsoft Office and Excel; PLM experience required. Experience with Adobe applications, Gerber, 3D development tools, and product data systems is preferred.

• Self-starter with a hands-on leadership style, strong sense of urgency, attention to detail, and a proactive, creative approach to problem solving.

• Willing and able to travel extensively, including to international supplier and manufacturing locations.

• Natific experience preferred.

At Fanatics, we value transparency and honesty. If you don’t meet every single requirement, that’s okay – we still want to hear from you! We believe in the power of diverse experiences and talents. If you’re excited about the role and confident that you can contribute, don’t hesitate to apply. We’re genuinely interested in how your unique skills and perspective can help us build something amazing together.

WHERE YOU’LL WORK AND WHAT’S REQUIRED:

• Thailand- BKK

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU:

• Culture: Join a team where you're surrounded by top-tier talent, driven by a shared passion to relentlessly enhance the fan experience. With a focus on collaboration, support, and continuous development, you’ll be empowered to help shape a our culture that celebrates both individual and team successes.
• Benefits: We provide a wide range of health, financial, legal, and development assistance, including wellness programs with fitness and weight management partners, paid maternity paternity leave, and infertility treatment. Additionally, we offer flexible time off to help you recharge, along with a competitive 401k plan to support your financial future. At Fanatics, we’re dedicated to supporting you in all aspects of work and life.

At Fanatics, we operate with a BOLD mindset - We Build Championship Teams, we’re Obsessed with Fans, we embrace a Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit, and we approach every challenge with a Determined and Relentless Mindset. If you’re ready to contribute to a dynamic, fast-paced environment that thrives on collaboration and growth, we want you to be part of our team.

ABOUT US
Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally.

ABOUT THE TEAM
Fanatics Commerce is a leading designer, manufacturer, and seller of licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods. It operates a vertically-integrated platform of digital and physical capabilities for leading sports leagues, teams, colleges, and associations globally – as well as its flagship site, www.fanatics.com.

Fanatics Commerce has a broad range of online, sports venue, and vertical apparel partnerships worldwide, including comprehensive partnerships with leading leagues, teams, colleges, and sports organizations across the world—including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, Formula 1, and Australian Football League (AFL); the Dallas Cowboys, Golden State Warriors, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea FC, and Tokyo Giants; the University of Notre Dame, University of Alabama, and University of Texas; the International Olympic Committee (IOC), England Rugby, and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

At Fanatics Commerce, we infuse our BOLD Leadership Principles in everything we do:
· Build Championship Teams
· Obsessed with Fans
· Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit
· Determined and Relentless Mindset

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