Job Summary
Plennusti Sustainable Fashion & Lifestyle Ltd is seeking an experienced, commercially minded, and sustainability-focused Senior Product Development Manager to lead the creation and delivery of fashion, accessories, and lifestyle products from initial concept through to commercial launch.
You will manage the complete product-development lifecycle, including market research, range planning, material selection, technical development, sampling, costing, supplier coordination, testing, production handover, and post-launch review.
Working closely with design, sourcing, merchandising, production, marketing, quality, and commercial teams, you will ensure every product meets the company’s standards for design, functionality, sustainability, quality, cost, and customer relevance.
This senior leadership opportunity is suited to a product-development professional with strong fashion or lifestyle-sector experience and a proven ability to convert creative concepts into commercially successful, responsibly produced collections.
What You’ll Do
- Lead product development across sustainable fashion, apparel, accessories, textiles, and lifestyle categories
- Translate brand strategy, customer insights, and market trends into commercially viable product ranges
- Develop seasonal product calendars, critical paths, development budgets, and launch schedules
- Manage product developers, technical specialists, coordinators, and external development partners
- Coordinate concept development, design briefs, specifications, material selection, prototypes, samples, and approvals
- Review technical packs, construction methods, measurements, finishes, components, packaging, and labelling requirements
- Oversee prototype, fit, wear-test, size-set, pre-production, and final approval samples
- Work with sourcing teams to identify responsible fabrics, trims, components, packaging, and manufacturing partners
- Evaluate materials based on performance, traceability, environmental impact, durability, cost, and customer suitability
- Manage supplier and factory relationships across the United Kingdom and international markets
- Negotiate development costs, tooling charges, minimum order quantities, lead times, and commercial terms
- Monitor product costs, target margins, material consumption, development expenses, and profitability
- Ensure products meet agreed quality, safety, performance, and regulatory requirements
- Coordinate product testing, certification, compliance documentation, and corrective actions
- Assess supplier capabilities, ethical standards, environmental practices, and production readiness
- Identify development delays, quality concerns, cost risks, and supply-chain constraints
- Implement recovery plans to protect collection launches and customer-delivery commitments
- Maintain accurate product records, specifications, sample approvals, costs, test reports, and supplier documentation
- Collaborate with merchandising on range architecture, price positioning, assortment, and commercial forecasts
- Work with marketing and e-commerce teams to provide accurate product information, sustainability claims, and launch content
- Support responsible-design principles, material innovation, circularity, waste reduction, repairability, and product longevity
- Lead post-launch reviews using customer feedback, returns, quality data, and sales performance
- Improve product-development systems, workflows, supplier scorecards, and performance reporting
- Present product-development updates, risks, recommendations, and investment requirements to senior leadership
- Support category expansion, strategic collaborations, private-label opportunities, and new product initiatives
Requirements
- Significant senior-level experience in product development within fashion, apparel, accessories, textiles, consumer goods, or lifestyle products
- Proven experience managing products from initial concept through sampling, approval, production handover, and market launch
- Strong knowledge of materials, construction, manufacturing methods, product specifications, and quality standards
- Experience reviewing technical packs, samples, measurements, finishes, components, and packaging
- Strong understanding of costing, target margins, minimum order quantities, development budgets, and commercial decision-making
- Experience managing manufacturers, suppliers, testing partners, and cross-functional development teams
- Knowledge of sustainable materials, responsible sourcing, ethical manufacturing, traceability, or circular-design principles
- Ability to assess environmental claims and ensure product information is clear, supportable, and accurate
- Strong project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple products, suppliers, deadlines, and development stages
- Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving abilities
- Experience with product testing, quality assurance, compliance, and corrective-action processes
- Familiarity with product-lifecycle management, enterprise resource planning, range-planning, or supplier-management systems
- Experience with apparel, footwear, accessories, homeware, beauty, wellness, or sustainable lifestyle categories is advantageous
- Knowledge of UK and international consumer-product requirements is beneficial
- A degree in fashion product development, textile technology, product design, fashion management, industrial design, or a related discipline is preferred
- Equivalent senior-level product-development experience will also be considered
Why Work With Us
- Competitive senior-management salary
- Leadership responsibility across sustainable product development
- Hybrid and flexible-working opportunities, subject to business requirements
- Performance-related bonus, subject to company policy
- Private healthcare or wellbeing support
- Generous annual leave allowance
- Employee discounts on company products
- Professional-development and sustainability-training support
- Career progression and executive-development opportunities
- Creative, collaborative, and purpose-led working environment
- Opportunity to influence materials, products, sourcing practices, and long-term brand growth
About the Company
Plennusti Sustainable Fashion & Lifestyle Ltd is a Manchester-based fashion and lifestyle business focused on developing thoughtfully designed products that balance style, function, commercial value, and responsible production.
Pay: £5,500.00-£7,500.00 per month
Benefits
- Company events
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Financial planning services
- Free parking
- Life insurance
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
- Store discount
Work Location: In person
