Quality Assurance Specialist - Footwear
Job Description:
* To provide quality assurance support to the product development team and ensure that our products meet our quality standards.
* To work closely with the buying teams, suppliers, and key stakeholders to establish and maintain best practices.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Understand and support the delivery of the departmental and quality strategy to achieve the customer promise.
2. Demonstrate technical knowledge of footwear and accessories to develop products that are safe, legal, and fit for purpose.
3. Build and develop capability to assess commercial quality and testing requirements.
4. Assist with product development and adhere to sample process flow.
5. Investigate all Gold Seal rejections and communicate quality issues to buying teams and suppliers.
6. Build competitor awareness to enable quality, fit, and performance benchmarking of our products versus key competitors.
7. Work with the Compliance team to ensure that our Quality Standards are in line with industry standards (Value/Volume retail).
8. Demonstrate an understanding of the legal/product/retail requirements for labelling.
9. Organize and run fit sessions for product areas of responsibility. Communicate clearly to buying teams and suppliers about fit amendments and technical solutions.
10. Assist in identifying potential fit, fabric, or component quality issues.
11. Investigate any testing failures with the supplier, supporting with technical knowledge on how to resolve.
12. Compile and conclude tech packs and score card analysis as part of the delivery of the key line programme to ensure quality standards and cost efficiencies are achieved.
13. Investigate and support resolution of quality issues in a timely manner with clear solutions and communication to all relevant stakeholders.
14. Monitor the Returns Report to identify high returning styles/products, highlighting risk to the Quality Manager and develop CAPP to enable improvements. Work with the supply base to resolve and improve future deliveries.
15. With guidance from the Quality Manager learn to identify risk suppliers/product for Pre-shipment and CFS inspection.
16. Evaluate risk and ability to make commercial recommendations on quality priorities in a volume environment.
17. Investigate customer feedback/customer complaints/product issues and record on the quality incident log.
18. Monitor the Returns Report to identify high returning styles/products.
Requirements:
* A technical background is required. A focus on footwear is essential.
* Related industry experience is required.