Position Summary

The Activewear Brand Design & Development Lead plays a key role in driving the growth of Bemis within the European activewear market by accelerating adoption of Sewfree® technologies with both activewear brands and manufacturing partners.

Reporting to the Global Activewear Design & Development Senior Manager, this role serves as a critical link between brands, factories, and Bemis' internal teams. The position identifies opportunities, develops innovative solutions, and guides projects from concept through commercialization, helping transform consumer needs, product challenges, and manufacturing requirements into commercially successful products.

The ideal candidate combines strong apparel design and development expertise with a deep understanding of activewear product creation, garment manufacturing, and market trends. They are equally comfortable building relationships, developing concepts, creating physical prototypes, solving technical challenges, and working directly with factory partners to bring innovative products to life. This role requires a hands-on, curious, and collaborative problem solver who enjoys learning new technologies, experimenting with ideas, and helping partners bring innovative products to market.

This role is based within the APAC region and requires approximately 30% international travel to support customer engagements, factory partnerships, development activities, and commercialization efforts.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Brand & Market Development

·        Build strong relationships with design, development, innovation, and product creation teams across strategic activewear brands within the European market.

·        Build strong relationships with manufacturing partners supporting the European activewear market.

·        Develop a deep understanding of brand strategies, consumer needs, category priorities, and market trends.

·        Identify opportunities where Bemis technologies can solve consumer, product, manufacturing, or sustainability challenges.

·        Inspire brands with new concepts, applications, and product possibilities that create value for both the consumer and the brand.

·        Develop and present compelling product stories, prototypes, and demonstrations that educate and inspire adoption of Bemis technologies.

·        Support customer meetings, workshops, innovation sessions, and collaborative development activities.

Solution Development & Commercialization

·        Translate consumer insights, product challenges, and brand objectives into innovative Sewfree® solutions.

·        Develop concepts, build physical prototypes, samples, and application recommendations that align with brand and manufacturing requirements.

·        Collaborate with Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Product Development, Commercial Teams, and Factory Partners to ensure solutions are technically feasible, manufacturable, and commercially scalable.

·        Balance consumer, technical, manufacturing, and commercial considerations throughout the development process.

·        Guide projects from concept through development, validation, and commercialization.

·        Support technical problem-solving and application development to ensure successful execution.

Market Intelligence & Strategic Growth

·        Maintain a strong understanding of the European activewear marketplace, consumer trends, competitive activity, and emerging opportunities.

·        Translate market, consumer, and customer insights into recommendations that help shape future innovation priorities, category strategies, and growth initiatives.

·        Identify opportunities where Bemis can create differentiated value for brands, consumers, and manufacturing partners.

·        Support strategic initiatives that strengthen Bemis' position within the activewear market.

QUALIFICATIONS

·        Bachelor's degree in Apparel Design, Product Development, Textile Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

·        5+ years of experience in apparel design, product development, innovation, technical development, or a related field.

·        Strong understanding of apparel construction, materials, garment manufacturing, and product creation processes. Experience with building garments, pattern making, or prototyping is a plus.

·        Experience working directly with activewear, sportswear, outdoor, or performance apparel brands.

·        Experience with Sewfree® technologies, bonding, laminations, or advanced garment construction methods is a plus.

·        Hands-on mindset with a willingness to create, build physical prototypes, sample, and test ideas throughout the development process.

·        Demonstrated curiosity and willingness to learn new technologies, processes, and applications.

·        Self-starter who takes initiative, identifies opportunities, and drives projects forward with minimal direction.

·        Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.

·        Demonstrated proficiency in written and spoken English, with the ability to communicate effectively across global teams, factory partners, and customer organizations.

·        Strong collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across functions, cultures, and global teams.

·        Ability to balance creative problem-solving with technical, manufacturing, and commercial considerations.

·        Ability to work effectively across multiple time zones and cultures.

·        Willingness and ability to travel internationally up to 30% of the time.

SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE

Success in this role will be measured by the ability to build trusted partnerships with both activewear brands and manufacturing partners, identify high-value opportunities, and translate those opportunities into commercially successful Sewfree® applications.

The successful candidate will consistently connect consumer needs, product challenges, and manufacturing capabilities to create solutions that deliver value for brands, factories, and Bemis. They will be recognized as a trusted innovation partner, a hands-on problem solver, and a key contributor to the growth of Bemis within the European activewear market.