As our Fabric Manager you'll lead and manage our fabric strategy with our suppliers and mills. You will have specific and demonstrable expertise of upholstery fabrics and home textiles, as well as a detailed understanding of our fabric supply chains, and the fabric industry to drive continuous improvement. Actively seeking opportunities to develop our best-in-class fabric offer, as well as providing advice and guidance to deliver improved margin and quicker trading routes.

You will be working closely with the Product Development and Demand Planning teams to identify opportunities for fabric consolidation, tracking global fabric prices and supporting any commercial negotiations, whilst also identifying fast track routes, resourcing opportunities and ways to improve fabric stock management processes.

Some of what the job involves (key areas):

New Product Development

• Support the delivery of fabrics that meet the standards set for design, quality and sustainability, as well as achieving the commercial requirements set by the business.
• Identify fabric newness and innovation based on the fabric strategy, working with the design team to identify and investigate key fabric trends.
• Own the fabric specification process and all associated documentation to ensure that this is not deviated from at any stage in procurement or manufacturing.

Continuous Improvement

• Manages the process for identifying product optimisation opportunities and tracking the benefit of these. Working with the Loaf Product Development team and our fabric suppliers to deliver these benefits.
• Provides a strong voice in the Product function to ensure the brand is protected by having best in class quality fabrics at the right price. Continually challenging and striving to deliver unrivalled commercial benefits through fabric sourcing and planning.
• Supporting cross costing projects, negotiations and re-sourcing exercises.
• Track changes to prices and availability in the market - identifying and managing any risk exposure in the supply chain.

Suppliers

• Builds and sustains effective strategic relationships with key fabric mills and shares industry knowledge and market trends with the Loaf Product Development team.
• Act as the main point of contact for our fabric supply base, managing the relationships with all suppliers, mills and converters, ensuring they deliver products on time and to the specified Loaf standards.
• Engages at a strategic level with key fabric suppliers and mills and champions their development as appropriate.
• Helps to identify sourcing gaps and acts as a consultant in investigating new opportunities and nurturing new supplier relationships.
• Monitors fabric supplier performance, providing feedback and recommendations to the business and supply base to drive optimisation and improvement.
• Conducts supplier visits both locally and internationally to review manufacturing capabilities and the stock management processes.
• Has a detailed understanding of our fabric supply chains to support the achievement of our sustainability targets for upholstery and home textiles.

To set you up for success, we're looking for the following:

• Detailed knowledge and understanding of upholstery and home textile constructions, testing and manufacturing methods.
• Demonstrable track record of both internal and external stakeholder management.
• Experience adjusting to the changing needs of a fast paced and growing business.
• A clear communicator at all levels of the business
• Good working knowledge of MSOffice with the ability to extract meaningful conclusions from data.
• Excellent commercial awareness

Some of our benefits:

• 25 days. Increasing by 1 day each year for 3 years so max 28. Plus, bank holidays.
• Staff discount 45%
• Friends and Family discount 15%
• EAP programme through The Retail Trust
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Medicash - healthcare cash plan
• Death in Service - 4x annual salary
• Westfield discount card
• 15% off Bloom and Wild
• Half day Xmas shopping day plus a voucher
• Refer a Loafer

What's it like working at Loaf?

We are a forward-thinking, friendly bunch committed to building a fabulous company with brilliant people. The customer is at the heart of all that we do, striving for better, more efficient ways to make that work.

At Loaf, we're working really hard to be inclusive. No matter what identity or background, we want everyone to feel welcome in a place where we can all be ourselves.

We'd love you to join us on our journey.

Please note that due to a high number of applications we are currently receiving we are unfortunately not able to provide individual feedback to every candidate at this stage of the process. If your application is successful, one of our Loafers will reach out to you.