Head of Garment Technician

Your role
As Head of Technical, you will be accountable for technical excellence across the full product lifecycle. You will lead the Technical function and ensure that fit, quality, performance, sustainability, compliance, and technical governance are embedded from the earliest stages of product creation through to supplier execution and successful go-to-market delivery.
You will work closely with Buying, Design, Merchandising, Operations, Supply Chain, CSR/ESG and supplier partners to ensure technical standards are clear, scalable and commercially supportive.

Your role is to position Technical as a strategic business partner: enabling right-first-time development, speed to market, margin optimization, supplier flexibility, customer satisfaction, reduced returns and stronger product consistency.
You will also play a key role in strengthening how we work: embedding the Technical Toolbox as the single source of truth, improving critical path discipline, building supplier readiness, and driving innovation across fit, materials, construction, digital tools and product performance.
What you will do     Lead and develop the end-to-end Technical function, setting clear standards, priorities, governance and ways of working across product development, sourcing and delivery.
Own and embed technical excellence across fit, grading, construction, materials, testing, quality, sustainability, compliance and supplier readiness.
Ensure Technical is involved from the earliest stages of product creation, including product concepts, fit strategy, material selection, technical packs and supplier briefing.
Own the governance, adoption and continuous improvement of the Technical Toolbox, ensuring it becomes the single source of truth for product development and supplier execution.
Drive on-time product delivery by ensuring technical milestones, fit approvals, supplier readiness and technical execution support the critical path and successful go-to-market delivery.
Use customer insight, returns data, wear-and-wash results and quality performance to continuously improve product standards and customer outcomes.
Partner closely with Buying and Design to support cost optimization, material consolidation, value engineering and supplier flexibility, while protecting fit, quality and product performance.
Strengthen supplier capability through clear technical standards, onboarding requirements, construction methods, material choices and hands-on supplier partnerships.
Lead technical readiness for supplier onboarding, supplier transitions and sourcing diversification, ensuring flexibility without compromising fit, quality or customer experience.
Drive product, fit, material and construction innovation through supplier collaboration, technical experimentation, customer insight and the smart use of digital tools and new technologies.
Embed sustainability, CSR and regulatory requirements into technical standards, materials and product development in a practical and future-ready way.
Act as a senior cross-functional partner to Buying, Design, Merchandising, Operations, Supply Chain, CSR/ESG, E-commerce, Marketing, Legal and supplier partners.
Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary Technical team, building capability, accountability, succession strength and a culture of continuous improvement.
Translate business, product and customer requirements into scalable technical standards, clear decision rights and practical ways of working across categories and suppliers.
Drive continuous improvement through standardization, simplification and digitalization of technical processes, reducing rework and improving right-first-time execution.
What you bring     Significant senior technical leadership experience within fashion retail, ideally within lingerie, intimate apparel or another fit-critical product category.
Deep expertise in garment construction, fit, grading, materials, testing, quality management and product development.
Strong understanding of end-to-end product lifecycle management, supplier onboarding, technical governance, critical path management and go-to-market execution.
Proven experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams and building capability through transformation, change and continuous improvement.
A strong commercial mindset, with the ability to connect technical decisions to speed to market, margin, supplier flexibility, customer satisfaction and returns performance.
Experience working with international suppliers and production environments,…