Role: Material Color Quality Engineer
Team: Material Color Quality & Surface Design
Scope: Individual Contributor, P3
Years of Experience: 3-5+ years
Location: Ventura, CA, Hybrid
As a Material Color Quality Engineer, you will ensure the integrity, consistency, and performance of fabric coloration across Patagonia’s material catalog. This role plays a vital part in evaluating colorfastness, optimizing supplier processes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to maintain Patagonia’s robust quality standards. By working with internal teams and global supply chain partners, you will help mitigate color quality risks, troubleshoot production challenges, and ensure accurate color execution from development through bulk production. This role offers opportunities to develop expertise in advanced coloration processes, material application methods, and supply chain operations. Maintaining Patagonia color excellence as best-in-class in the industry will be key to your success and contribution to saving the home planet.
What You’ll Do:
- Manage and develop seasonal colors to commercialization, with priority to digital evaluation, while adhering to Product Creation Calendar.
- Enforce color and quality specifications for materials, ensuring all substrates meet Patagonia’s robust colorfastness and quality requirements.
- Evaluate and approve lab dips, oversee bulk color production scaling, and troubleshoot supplier challenges to ensure accurate and repeatable color execution.
- Assess supplier capabilities, process efficiencies, and color performance, collaborating with mills and production partners to optimize color consistency.
- Support the transition of color from development to production, maintaining digital and physical color evaluation standards.
- Troubleshoot color quality challenges, collaborating with suppliers and cross-functional teams to resolve issues.
- Manage and maintain color management databases and PLM systems, ensuring color specifications, colorfastness test results, and approvals are accurately documented.
- Contribute to process improvements, helping to refine evaluation methods, tools, and best practices to enhance Patagonia’s approach to color quality.
- Partner with product teams, design, and development teams, advising on color feasibility and best practices for achieving high-quality color results.
- Additional projects as required.
Who You Are:
- Detail-Oriented – You have a keen eye for color accuracy and consistency.
- Collaborative – You work effectively across teams, fostering partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Adaptable – You can work in a dynamic environment.
- Organized – You can track multiple projects, maintain accurate documentation, and manage timelines efficiently.
- Curious & Analytical – You approach problem-solving with data-driven insights and continuous learning.
- Solution-Oriented – You take initiative in troubleshooting and process improvements.
- Committed to Quality – You uphold Patagonia’s high standards for color and performance.
Experience You Bring:
- Bachelor's Degree in Textile Science, Color Theory, or related field with 3+ years related industry experience (or 5+ years of experience in lieu of a degree).
- Strong technical knowledge of coloration processes, dye class and fiber interactions, and colorfastness testing.
- Comprehensive understanding of color development, color theory and color space, and color evaluation technologies
- Experience working with color management systems and digital color evaluation tools.
- Ability to evaluate and approve color consistency across multiple substrates and production runs, exercising a high degree of professionalism and delivering results against tight and complex timelines.
- Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with experience working with suppliers and internal teams to resolve quality issues.
- Excellent organizational and data management skills.
Hiring Range: $90,000-$104,000 USD Annual
At Patagonia, pay ranges are assigned to a job based on the location specific market median of similar jobs according to 3rd party salary benchmark surveys. Individual pay within that range can vary for several reasons including skills/capabilities, experience, and available budget. Note the full pay range for this role ranges from: $83,840.00 - $125,760.00 USD Annual. The Hiring Range reflects where in the range we intend to hire for this role.
Benefits
Patagonia offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, retirement and leave of absence plans. Benefit plans may vary slightly depending on the nature of your employment.
Workplace Location Overview
- This position is Hybrid, with a standard schedule of Tuesday - Thursday on-site and remote work on other days. Occasional additional office visits may be required for team events or critical meetings.
Employee Conduct
It is the responsibility of every employee to contribute to a positive, inclusive work environment through cooperative and professional interactions with co-workers, customers and vendors.
Equal Employment Opportunity
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.
