Job Description

Job Category: Design & Technology
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About the Role:
Our team of Designers, Technologists, Buyers, and Merchandisers at Next is dedicated to continuous innovation, focusing on emerging trends, elevating quality and expanding our offering for our extensive customer base.
As the Fabric Manager within our Menswear department, you will play a pivotal, leadership role, directing the fabric sourcing strategy across the entire menswear department.
This role requires a highly elevated taste level, strong technical knowledge and a love of newness. You will work alongside the Design Manager to identify key fabric trends well in advance of the season, initiating new fabric developments bespoke to Next's Menswear division. You will continuously improve our quality standards.
What You'll be doing
Strategy, Leadership, and Impact

• Lead Strategic Direction: Formulate a vision, develop a strategy and lead your team to deliver.
• Drive Innovation: Spearhead the driving of new and bespoke fabrics and yarns, continually improving quality standards.
• Influence: Present the latest trends and innovations to the wider menswear floor, influencing key stakeholders to embrace newness.
• Team Management: Lead, mentor, and develop the team, fostering accountability and strong supplier relations.

Sourcing, Development, and Negotiation

• Global Direct Sourcing: Strategically improve the fabric supplier portfolio through sourcing trips, focusing on direct sourcing.
• Market Intelligence: Attend major global trade fairs and key sourcing territories to identify innovations, gather intel, and secure long-term strategic partnerships.
• Integrated Expertise: Apply technical knowledge (composition, structure, finish etc.), to create fabric perfect for the end use.
• Commercial Awareness: Ensure alignment of cost targets with brand positioning and value equation.
• Sourcing: Work closely with the garment tech manager to ensure fabrics are fit for purpose and that fabric and garment sourcing strategies are aligned.

Quality, Risk, and Compliance

• Quality Assurance: Ensure all fabrics meet high quality standards (aesthetic and performance), and oversee production quality.
• Production Management: Provide the expertise to manage production of fabrics, overseeing critical paths to ensure on time delivery.
• Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing: Collaborate internally to understand Responsible Sourcing & Production Legislation. Ensure all materials meet sustainability requirements. Assess and mitigate supply chain risks. Drive responsible sourcing forward.

About You:
You will have:

• Extensive experience with a proven track record of operating at a senior level within fabric sourcing, development and technology - ideally gained within a major UK or international fashion retailer or brand.
• Exceptional leadership qualities with experience managing, motivating, and developing a team, including managing managers.
• A demonstrable, advanced knowledge of the global textile market, including complex supply chains, fabric construction, finishing processes, and commercial costing methodologies. A strong technical background and knowledge of all fabric types and processes is needed to ensure fabrics developed meet Next's quality standards.
• Strong commercial awareness.
• Highly developed negotiation and influencing skills, capable of building and maintaining relationships with both internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• A love of travel! The role requires frequent and extensive international travel to key sourcing regions and major global trade fairs.

About Us: You know Next, but did you know we're a FTSE-100 retail company employing over 35,000 people across the UK and Ireland. We're the UK's 2nd largest fashion retailer and for Kidswear we're the market leader. At the last count we have over 500 stores, plus the Next Online and it's now possible to buy on-line from over 70 countries around the world! So we've gone global!
About the Team:

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Profit-related bonus - based on company performance
• Management share options
• Company car or car allowance
• Private medical insurance
• Sharesave scheme - make savings from your net pay to buy NEXT shares at a discount
• Pension - fixed contribution rates from both an employer and employee perspective, but you're also able to make additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) if you wish to save more.
• Life assurance
• Group income protection
• Wagestream - helping you make the most out of your money
• Salary finance - offers access to affordable loans repaid through salary, simple savings and free financial education.
• 25% staff discount on most NEXT products - plus discount on other products
• Direct to work - NEXT orders delivered free to the office for collection
• VIP sale - early access to the NEXT sale
• Access to NEXT staff shops
• Octopus energy - like cycle-to-work, but for electric vehicles
• Free parking (excluding London locations)
• Travel2NEXT - bus services dependent on location
• On site dining facilities (excluding London locations)
• National and local discounts on goods and services - this includes things like discounted cinema tickets
• Wellhub - includes access to discounted gym membership
• Simply health - a healthcare subscription service
• Aviva Digicare Workplace+ healthcare service - 7 Free services including Digital GP appointments and an annual health check.
• Onsite GP - Leicester Head Office
• Onsite Physio - Leicester Head Office
• A range of dedicated 3rd party wellbeing partners
• Free eye testing - voucher to use at specific locations

Conditions apply to all benefits. These benefits are discretionary and subject to change.
We aim to support all candidates during the application process and are happy to provide workplace adjustments when necessary. Should you need support with your application due to a disability or long-term condition, feel free to get in touch with us by email headoffice_careers@next.co.uk (please include 'Workplace Adjustments' in the subject line), or call us on 0116 284 2486 and leave a voicemail.

Skills Required