Product Development Manager
Permanent Full-TimeJob Overview
Born in 1971, the roots of Mulberry are in Somerset, England. For more than fifty years, Mulberry has been a British lifestyle brand, internationally acclaimed for quality and design capturing the Mulberry Spirit.
Sustainability has been part of the Mulberry ethos since the brand's inception, in recognition of our purpose-driven approach, in 2024 we proudly achieved B Corp Certification.
Today, we are a global brand, but our values remain the same; we are committed to improving our impact on people and the planet. If these are values you share, we would love you to join our team.
The Role:
The Product Development Manager for Leather Goods and Accessories leads the end-to-end development process, transforming design concepts into market-ready products while ensuring alignment with brand aesthetics and quality standards. This role involves close collaboration with design, sourcing, production, and merchandising teams to manage critical paths, budgets, and supplier relationships. Additionally, the manager is responsible for integrating sustainable practices, overseeing technical specifications, and ensuring timely delivery of products that meet both commercial and creative objectives
Duties & Responsibilities:
· Product Development Oversight: Lead the development of leather goods and accessories, ensuring alignment with design concepts, brand aesthetics, and market trends.
· Critical Path Management to identify and prioritize the sequence of dependent tasks that directly impact the project's completion date, ensuring timely delivery of leather goods and accessories.
· Supplier Coordination: Source and manage relationships with suppliers, ensuring timely delivery of prototypes and samples that meet quality standards.
· Technical Specification Creation: Develop detailed BOMs and product specifications, facilitating clear communication with suppliers and manufacturers.
· Sample Management: Oversee the creation and evaluation of prototypes and samples, ensuring they meet design, quality, and functionality requirements.
· Budget Management: Manage development budgets, ensuring projects are completed within financial constraints and identifying cost-saving opportunities.
· Sustainability Integration: Incorporate sustainable practices into product development, sourcing eco-friendly materials and processes where possible.
· Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with design, merchandising, production, and quality teams to ensure cohesive product development and successful launches.
· Continuous Improvement: Evaluate and refine product development processes, implementing improvements to enhance efficiency, quality, and innovation.
Culture:
· Embrace and demonstrate the Mulberry values and behaviours: honesty, dynamism, and a community-oriented spirit.
· Support Mulberry to deliver an inclusive culture, through behaving in a way that is open-minded and respectful towards others, and understanding that your views, opinions, and experiences may not always be shared by your colleagues.
· Act as an ambassador for Mulberry and communicate positively about the brand.
Sustainability:
· As a certified B Corp, we are committed to using business as a force for good. You’ll be encouraged to incorporate environmentally and socially responsible practices into your work, supporting our Made to Last strategy across Climate, Circularity, and Community.
· Help foster a culture where diversity is celebrated and every individual feels valued, respected, and included. Champion equity, empathy, and understanding in all interactions - internally and externally.
Skills & Experience Required:
· Leather Goods Manufacturing Expertise: In-depth understanding of leather types, tanning processes, and construction techniques specific to bags, small leather goods (SLGs), and accessories. Familiarity with various construction methods, ensuring the selection of appropriate techniques for each product.
Supplier Management & Negotiation: Proficient in onboarding, evaluating, and maintaining relationships with suppliers, including negotiating terms, pricing, and minimum order quantities (MOQs).
Budget Management & Cost Optimization: Skilled in managing budgets, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and ensuring expenses align with financial targets.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Experience working with design, production, quality, and sustainability teams to ensure cohesive product development and timely delivery.
Project Management & Leadership: Strong leadership skills to manage teams, oversee seasonal development timelines according to critical path, and ensure successful project execution.
Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with PLM, Prima systems, and Microsoft Office Suite for data management, reporting, and communication.
Quality Assurance & Compliance: Knowledge of quality control processes, testing methods, and regulatory requirements to ensure products meet brand standards.
Sustainability Practices: Understanding of sustainable sourcing and ethical practices within the fashion industry.
Born in 1971, the roots of Mulberry are in Somerset, England. For more than fifty years, Mulberry has been a British lifestyle brand, internationally acclaimed for quality and design capturing the Mulberry Spirit.
Sustainability has been part of the Mulberry ethos since the brand's inception, in recognition of our purpose-driven approach, in 2024 we proudly achieved B Corp Certification.
Today, we are a global brand, but our values remain the same; we are committed to improving our impact on people and the planet. If these are values you share, we would love you to join our team.
The Role:
The Product Development Manager for Leather Goods and Accessories leads the end-to-end development process, transforming design concepts into market-ready products while ensuring alignment with brand aesthetics and quality standards. This role involves close collaboration with design, sourcing, production, and merchandising teams to manage critical paths, budgets, and supplier relationships. Additionally, the manager is responsible for integrating sustainable practices, overseeing technical specifications, and ensuring timely delivery of products that meet both commercial and creative objectives
Duties & Responsibilities:
· Product Development Oversight: Lead the development of leather goods and accessories, ensuring alignment with design concepts, brand aesthetics, and market trends.
· Critical Path Management to identify and prioritize the sequence of dependent tasks that directly impact the project's completion date, ensuring timely delivery of leather goods and accessories.
· Supplier Coordination: Source and manage relationships with suppliers, ensuring timely delivery of prototypes and samples that meet quality standards.
· Technical Specification Creation: Develop detailed BOMs and product specifications, facilitating clear communication with suppliers and manufacturers.
· Sample Management: Oversee the creation and evaluation of prototypes and samples, ensuring they meet design, quality, and functionality requirements.
· Budget Management: Manage development budgets, ensuring projects are completed within financial constraints and identifying cost-saving opportunities.
· Sustainability Integration: Incorporate sustainable practices into product development, sourcing eco-friendly materials and processes where possible.
· Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with design, merchandising, production, and quality teams to ensure cohesive product development and successful launches.
· Continuous Improvement: Evaluate and refine product development processes, implementing improvements to enhance efficiency, quality, and innovation.
Culture:
· Embrace and demonstrate the Mulberry values and behaviours: honesty, dynamism, and a community-oriented spirit.
· Support Mulberry to deliver an inclusive culture, through behaving in a way that is open-minded and respectful towards others, and understanding that your views, opinions, and experiences may not always be shared by your colleagues.
· Act as an ambassador for Mulberry and communicate positively about the brand.
Sustainability:
· As a certified B Corp, we are committed to using business as a force for good. You’ll be encouraged to incorporate environmentally and socially responsible practices into your work, supporting our Made to Last strategy across Climate, Circularity, and Community.
· Help foster a culture where diversity is celebrated and every individual feels valued, respected, and included. Champion equity, empathy, and understanding in all interactions - internally and externally.
Skills & Experience Required:
· Leather Goods Manufacturing Expertise: In-depth understanding of leather types, tanning processes, and construction techniques specific to bags, small leather goods (SLGs), and accessories. Familiarity with various construction methods, ensuring the selection of appropriate techniques for each product.
Supplier Management & Negotiation: Proficient in onboarding, evaluating, and maintaining relationships with suppliers, including negotiating terms, pricing, and minimum order quantities (MOQs).
Budget Management & Cost Optimization: Skilled in managing budgets, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and ensuring expenses align with financial targets.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Experience working with design, production, quality, and sustainability teams to ensure cohesive product development and timely delivery.
Project Management & Leadership: Strong leadership skills to manage teams, oversee seasonal development timelines according to critical path, and ensure successful project execution.
Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with PLM, Prima systems, and Microsoft Office Suite for data management, reporting, and communication.
Quality Assurance & Compliance: Knowledge of quality control processes, testing methods, and regulatory requirements to ensure products meet brand standards.
Sustainability Practices: Understanding of sustainable sourcing and ethical practices within the fashion industry.
Mulberry is an equal opportunities employer and we are passionate about hiring and developing the best talent. All hiring decisions are made only on the basis of qualifications, skills or experience and as they relate to the particular role. If you need us to make any adjustments to our application or interview processes to enable you to be at your best, please email us at [email protected].