Senior Technical Product Developer

Job Summary: The Senior Technical Product Developer is responsible for leading the development and commercialization of rugs and home textile products for core product optimization and in-line product expansion. This role requires deep expertise in textile materials, yarns, constructions, manufacturing processes, testing, and product performance, combined with extensive experience working directly with overseas factories and suppliers. The ideal candidate has 10+ years of hands-on product development experience and can translate creative and commercial product direction into technically sound, scalable, cost-effective products. This individual will serve as a key technical resource across, Design, Product Management, Sourcing, Quality, Compliance, and Operations, proactively identifying risks and resolving complex development and production challenges

What You’ll Do
• Lead the development and commercialization of rugs and home textile products from concept/R&D handover through production handover.
• Translate design concepts and product briefs into detailed technical specifications, constructions, materials, performance requirements, and manufacturing solutions.
• Partner directly with overseas factories and suppliers to develop yarns, fibers, fabrics, backing systems, finishes, trims, and constructions that achieve the intended aesthetic, performance, quality, and cost objectives.
• Provide technical expertise across manufacturing processes including weaving, tufting, knitting, extrusion, bonding, coating, washing, dyeing, printing, finishing, and other relevant textile processes.
• Evaluate product constructions and recommend materials, processes, or engineering solutions that improve quality, performance, manufacturability, consistency, and cost.
• Own technical documentation throughout development, including product specifications, sample evaluations, construction details, testing requirements and results, pre-production trials, and final production standards.
• Review development samples and provide clear, technically actionable feedback to suppliers to drive efficient sample iterations and approvals.
• Proactively identify technical, quality, cost, and manufacturing risks and lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions when issues arise.
• Create detailed development timelines and critical-path milestones, partnering cross-functionally to ensure projects remain on schedule.
• Lead pre-production trials and commercialization activities to ensure approved products can be consistently replicated at production scale.
• Establish and maintain product quality and performance standards in partnership with Quality Assurance and Compliance teams.
• Build strong technical relationships with global suppliers and factories and challenge partners to continuously improve capabilities, quality, efficiency, innovation, and cost.
• Conduct factory visits, technical reviews, and development meetings with overseas suppliers as required.
• Partner with Sourcing on cost engineering and value-engineering initiatives while protecting product integrity, performance, and quality.
• Serve as a senior technical resource and mentor to Product team members, sharing expertise and helping strengthen technical capabilities across the organization.
• Drive continuous improvement in development processes, specifications, documentation, and supplier execution.

What You’ll Need to Have
Required
• Bachelor’s degree in Textiles, Textile Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Development, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant industry experience may be considered.
• 10+ years of progressive technical product development experience, preferably within rugs, home textiles, floor coverings, or related textile categories.
• Extensive hands-on knowledge of textile materials, yarns, fibers, constructions, finishing techniques, and manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated experience developing and commercializing products directly with overseas factories and suppliers.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing feasibility, cost engineering, product performance, quality, and production scalability.
• Proven ability to diagnose complex technical and manufacturing problems, identify root causes, and drive effective corrective solutions.
• Experience creating, reviewing, and maintaining detailed product specifications and technical documentation.
• Strong understanding of product testing, quality standards, and performance requirements.
• Excellent project-management skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex development programs and critical timelines simultaneously.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate technical information effectively across creative, commercial, operational, and manufacturing teams.
• Ability to work independently, exercise sound technical judgment, and make decisions in a fast-paced development environment.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across Design, Product Management, Sourcing, Quality, Compliance, and Operations.
• Willingness to travel internationally to factories, suppliers, and trade shows.
• Ability to accommodate communication with global suppliers across multiple time zones.

Preferred
• Deep technical fabric expertise specifically within rug and floor-covering construction, including woven, tufted, machine-made, handwoven, printed, and other relevant constructions.
• Strong knowledge of yarn extrusion, spinning, dyeing, weaving, tufting, backing, bonding, coating, washing, finishing, and related processes.
• Experience working with natural and synthetic fibers and yarn systems.
• Working knowledge of ASTM, AATCC, ISO, and other relevant textile testing standards and protocols.
• Experience with PLM systems, technical specification systems, Airtable and project-management tools.
• Demonstrated experience in value engineering and product cost optimization.
• Experience evaluating and developing new factory capabilities, materials, technologies, and manufacturing processes