At Burberry, we believe creativity opens spaces. Our purpose is to unlock the power of imagination to push boundaries and open new possibilities for our people, our customers and our communities. This is the core belief that has guided Burberry since it was founded in 1856 and is central to how we operate as a company today.
We aim to provide an environment for creative minds from different backgrounds to thrive, bringing a wide range of skills and experiences to everything we do. As a purposeful, values-driven brand, we are committed to being a force for good in the world as well, creating the next generation of sustainable luxury for customers, driving industry change and championing our communities.
Job Description
Job Purpose
Burberry is looking for a skilled Product Developer Leather to join the team in London. In this position you will deliver the end-to-end product development process in the Leather Category within Burberry’s Product Development function. Acting as an ambassador for Burberry, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation and collaboration and operate as true technical specialists with internal teams and vendors.
Responsibilities
- Build and sustain a close working partnership with Design, acting as the technical partner throughout the development process. Attend fittings, provide clear guidance on technical feasibility, and collaborate creatively to translate the design vision into exceptional product.
- Build and maintain strong vendor relationships, developing a deep understanding of vendor capabilities and ability to meet demands. This includes negotiations on cost and technical or aesthetic refinements to protect design intent while meeting business objectives.
- Own and manage the critical path from concept to pre‑production, working closely with Design and manufacturers to ensure milestones are met. Proactively identify risks, drive resolution of sample issues, and implement mitigation strategies at every stage.
- Deliver high‑quality prototypes and samples on time, aligned to the critical path and margin targets, ensuring product readiness for onward development and production.
- Ensure products are fit for purpose for the customer, brand and business, with a focus on functionality, consistency and standardisation. Conduct ongoing risk assessment and take decisive action throughout the development lifecycle.
- Apply strong technical expertise in materials and leather across all product categories, from coats to sportswear, with a clear understanding of performance, testing requirements and functional standards.
- Collaborate closely with Product Engineering teams to deliver product testing to relevant standards, leveraging technical expertise while negotiating aesthetic solutions that uphold the design vision. Support vendor production meetings and oversee technical readiness of all proto and production samples.
- Provide leadership and guidance within the team, developing the Leather Assistant Developer, supporting the Senior Product Development Manager and stepping into leadership responsibilities when required, while ensuring PLM
- Accountable for ensuring PLM is kept updated with 100% accuracy at all times.
Personal Profile
- Apply deep technical expertise and product knowledge to confidently influence Design and provide immediate solutions across garment and leather construction, pattern cutting, materials and performance, printing and embellishment techniques, and the industrialisation process in partnership with Product Engineering.
- Manage and develop strong vendor relationships, delivering clear, commercially informed briefs, working on site where required, and leveraging factory knowledge and capacity to meet quality, timing and creative demands.
- Own critical path management for the collections, ensuring on‑time delivery through proactive risk identification, clear escalation, and effective mitigation of technical and operational challenges.
- Demonstrate strong commercial awareness, managing within budget and balancing creativity with cost, margin and production realities throughout the product development lifecycle.
- Communicate with clarity, credibility and influence, negotiating effectively across cross‑functional teams, supported by strong fashion sensibility, market and luxury consumer awareness, advanced PLM and system capability, and Italian language skills as an advantage.
- Italian language proficiency is a plus.
Burberry is an Equal Opportunities Employer and as such, treats all applications equally and recruits purely on the basis of skills and experience.
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