Senior Technical Designer

The Role:

The ideal candidate will have excellent technical knowledge of fit, materials, patterns and construction. This role will partner with the merchandising team and vendor partners to build innovative and high quality products and grow market share and profitability. The Senior Technical Designer will be responsible for ensuring products are adhering to fit, quality and environmental standards resulting in on-time product development and production deliveries.

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead efforts to improve quality & fit  in a timely manner by providing guidance and recommendations on vendor readiness and fit empowerment.
• Establish and constantly improve grading rules and fit blocks for all categories 
• Work in collaboration with vendors/factories to ensure products meet established fit measurement and quality standards.
• Influence changes as needed to help ensure product fit and delivery goals can be successfully achieved in bulk production.
• Manage tech packs throughout the development and production process.
• Identify construction technology that supports design vision and product requirements.
• Collaborates with Merchants to understand the design concept/intent.
• Lead and Conduct weekly cross functional fit sessions.  Record fit session comments and ensure plan of action is communicated to the vendors promptly.

Who you are:

• BA or BS preferred.
• 6+ years experience in technical design -- proven problem-solving skills, interpreting design intent, and product innovation.
• Strong hands-on sewing capabilities and knowledge.
• Performance history with domestic and offshore vendors and manufacturers.
• Extensive knowledge of apparel construction, material construction, and properties, pattern making, costing, bill of materials, embroidery and surface applications (e.g. screen printing, etc).
• Extensive knowledge of technical fabric / trims, construction, and production requirements.
• Ability to interpret design intent and offer alternative solutions.
• Knowledge of garment fit and the ability to instruct vendor partners on necessary changes to a pattern to influence the fit.
• Excellent communication skills: written, verbal, presentation, and negotiation -- ability to write comprehensive product specs 
• Demonstrated history of taking initiative and following through on areas of responsibility.
• Demonstrate agility and ability to multi-task and adapt to change.
• Extreme attention to detail.

Why You'll Love Working at Short Story:

• You'll get to work at an early stage start-up, to build the culture, and to have an outsized impact on our company and society
• You'll be a key part of the company with the ability to make high impact decisions
• You'll get the opportunity to try your hand at new things. We deeply believe in giving people opportunity to venture into new areas
• We are a successful, fast-growing startup solving problems that have not been solved before and reinventing fashion for an underserved segment
• We are a group of smart, passionate, hustlers with a wealth of diverse experiences
• We are motivated by unique challenges and opportunities
• We are our own customers; many of us on the team are petite women who love our products
• We are driven by the mission of helping petite women find their perfect fit so they can dress with total confidence

Compensation & Benefits:

• $40-$50/hour
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Catered lunch on Fridays
• Opportunity to work with a dedicated and experienced founding team
• Opportunity to work at a Y-Combinator backed startup