Manager, Apparel Engineering

Role Purpose

Lead and develop the regional Apparel Engineering team to deliver consistent technical execution, production readiness and product quality across the portfolio. Translate functional direction into clear team priorities by balancing capability, workload, product risk and Go-To-Market milestones, while driving integrated physical and digital development, testing oversight and vendor performance. Provide the Senior Manager with clear visibility to team performance, capacity, technical risk and emerging regional needs, and execute agreed functional priorities.  Build trusted partnerships within VF across pillars, with Brand and vendor teams, creating alignment on priorities, resolving cross-functional barriers and ensuring Apparel Engineering is recognized as a solution-oriented business partner.

Key Accountabilities

1. People Leadership & Team Capability

• Directly manage the Apparel Engineering team, setting clear priorities, accountability and performance expectations.

• Coach and develop Senior Apparel Engineers and Apparel Engineers through feedback, technical calibration, intentional learning and individual development planning.

• Assess capability gaps and allocate work based on product complexity, team capacity, development need and business priority.

• Build a collaborative, inclusive and accountable culture that enables technical ownership at the appropriate level.

2. Portfolio Delivery, Risk & Testing Oversight

• Ensure technical development, industrialization and production readiness are delivered to GTM milestones and agreed standards across the portfolio.

• Oversee complex and high-risk portfolios, ensuring clear ownership and timely escalation while empowering GL05 Senior Apparel Engineers to retain product-level technical accountability.

• Oversee SMV / YY exception-validation activity across the team, ensuring GL05 technical input is consistent, evidence-based and appropriately escalated, while final exception decisions remain with the designated SMV / YY governance or accountable business owner.

• Provide manager-level direction on systemic, recurring, cross-brand or material risks and ensure effective root-cause analysis and corrective action.

• Oversee application of required product testing protocols and test governance, ensuring critical failures, recurring trends and unresolved risks are appropriately reviewed, actioned and escalated.

• Oversee Risk Analysis, PRM handover, pre-production and reallocation approval processes to ensure critical technical and testing risks are closed before production.

3. Physical & Digital Execution

• Drive consistent team adoption of integrated physical and digital development workflows, connecting sample review, technical decisions, approvals and risk assessment.

• Partner with CFT, pattern and digital specialists to remove execution barriers, improve decision quality and reduce avoidable sample iterations.

• Establish clear SOPs and risk-based ways of working that improve right-first-time execution and support compressed GTM calendars.

4. Vendor Capability & Factory Engagement

• Use product, sample, testing and vendor-performance data to identify trends, prioritize technical interventions and track improvement.

• Oversee vendor capability-building through targeted training, Sample Room Assessments, TVCP, CFT calibration and RBM activities.

• Support new-vendor onboarding and escalate recurring or systemic vendor performance concerns with clear recommendations.

• Travel regularly to factories to maintain hands-on understanding, reinforce technical standards and strengthen alignment with CFT and factory leadership.

5. Development Trips, Capacity & Continuous Improvement

• Prioritize and oversee Development, Collaboration, CKO, Innovation and Fit Training trips based on product risk, business priorities and capability needs, using physical and digital preparation to maximize trip effectiveness.

• Monitor team workload, capacity and product complexity, reallocating resources where required to protect delivery and development priorities.

• Drive adoption of standardized Apparel Engineering processes, testing protocols, technical tools and VF Way ways of working, using recurring issues and performance data to identify improvement opportunities.

6. Senior Manager & Functional Support

• Provide the Senior Manager with clear visibility and recommendations on team performance, workload, capability, vendor performance, testing, technical risk and resource needs.

• Translate agreed functional priorities into actionable team plans, ownership and timely execution.

• Represent the regional team in cross-functional discussions as required and escalate systemic issues requiring broader functional alignment with clear options and recommended actions.

Leadership & Core Competencies

• Strong people leadership, coaching and accountability.

• Sound judgment across product risk, workload, capability and business priorities.

• Ability to translate functional direction into clear execution and influence cross-functional partners.

• Data-informed problem solving, root-cause thinking and continuous-improvement mindset.

• Credible technical leadership with the judgment to empower Senior Apparel Engineers rather than retain unnecessary product-level ownership.

Technical Skills & Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of apparel product development and industrialization from concept through production readiness.

• Strong working knowledge of fit, pattern, grading, garment construction, materials, wet processing, manufacturing and product testing.

• Working proficiency with apparel technical systems such as Gerber, Flex or other PLM, Browzwear or other 3D tools, and Adobe Illustrator.

• Understanding of costing, supply-chain complexity, vendor capability and the technical factors affecting quality, cost and GTM delivery.

• Experience using physical/digital development, testing, SMV / YY exception and performance data to prioritize actions and improve execution.

Qualifications & Experience

• Typically 8+ years of relevant apparel technical experience, with demonstrated breadth across product development and manufacturing environments.

• Demonstrated people-management experience including performance, coaching, workload allocation and technical-team development.

• Experience managing complex apparel portfolios, technical risk, testing oversight, factory/vendor execution and cross-functional priorities.

• Experience working with global brands, sourcing teams, factories and vendor technical teams; regular factory travel is required.

• English and relevant local language.

Role Scope & Decision Authority

• People Manager accountable for team performance, development, workload and portfolio-level technical delivery.

• Accountable for team prioritization, technical governance, testing oversight, SMV / YY exception-validation oversight and consistent execution; GL05 Senior Apparel Engineers retain delegated product-level technical ownership.

• Decides work allocation, development focus and day-to-day intervention priorities within agreed functional direction.

• Provides direction on escalated or systemic issues and escalates broader functional or enterprise-impact decisions to the Senior Manager.

• Supports, rather than substitutes for, Senior Manager accountability for broader functional strategy, organizational design and enterprise direction.  Extensive stakeholder network.