Technical Designer

About the Role

Backcountry's Owned Brands division is growing rapidly, creating new brands and products that deliver compelling value to customers while driving profitability. The team needs a Technical Designer who can own fit, construction, and product development across men's and women's outdoor apparel categories.

As Technical Designer, Owned Brands, you will manage the full technical development process from first proto through production, drive 3D product development adoption, and ensure every garment meets brand fit standards, cost targets, and quality expectations. Within your first six months, you will have established strong factory relationships, streamlined fit review workflows, and contributed measurably to on-time development milestones.

This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.

What You'll Do

• Drive adoption and advancement of 3D product development within the Technical Design team, serving as a beta tester for new tools including AI, workflows, and processes to improve speed, accuracy, and fit validation.
• Manage multiple products from conception through development and start of production, ensuring brand quality standards and design intent are maintained.
• Own the fit process end-to-end: schedule and lead fittings, review and measure prototypes and sales samples for workmanship, construction, fit, and production feasibility, and communicate findings to factories.
• Build product specifications including full graded measurements and detailed technical construction sketches with ISO callouts using Adobe Illustrator and 3D tools.
• Collaborate with Design on tech pack development, ensuring specs, measurements, and construction details are accurately maintained from first proto to production.
• Evaluate garment construction, fabric performance, trim functionality, and manufacturing methods to recommend improvements that enhance product performance and customer experience.
• Recommend construction techniques that meet design expectations and engineer products to pre-determined gross margin targets, including pre-cost estimates through final cost.
• Partner with the sourcing team to ensure products meet cost targets and identify technical risks early in development to proactively minimize delays.
• Maintain daily communication with factories to ensure integrity of design-approved prototypes, respond to technical questions, correct factory patterns, and apply grade rules as necessary.
• Support product lifecycle calendar milestones by driving timely sample reviews, fit approvals, and production readiness.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in apparel or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5–7 years of garment industry experience, with emphasis on outdoor apparel fit and construction.
• Patternmaking experience using Optitex, Gerber, Browzwear, CLO 3D, or similar software.
• Solid knowledge of manufacturing processes and the full product development lifecycle.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Illustrator (sketching), MS Office (Word, Excel), and PLM systems.
• Ability to apply technical knowledge across various apparel categories and size ranges.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and in-person communication skills with the ability to articulate fit issues and present solutions to diverse stakeholders.
• Strong attention to detail with outstanding follow-through on deliverables and deadlines.
• Current passport and willingness to travel internationally and domestically up to 30%.
• Availability for after-hours meetings with overseas factories.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in ski, snowboard, mountain bike, hiking, climbing, or other outdoor performance apparel.
• Knowledge of performance testing standards and technical fabric specifications.
• Experience with insulated outerwear, waterproof garments, seam sealing, bonded construction, and technical layering systems.
• Hardgoods experience.
• Leadership or mentoring experience with junior technical designers or cross-functional project teams.

Why Join

The people who do best here are builders. They take ownership, move fast, and want to see the direct impact of their work.

Interview Process

1. Recruiter Screen - A 30-minute conversation with our recruiting team to align on the role, your background, and what you are looking for.
2. Hiring Manager Interview - A deeper conversation focused on your technical design experience, fit process expertise, and approach to product development challenges.
3. Technical Discussion - A review of your portfolio and technical work, including fit session methodology, tech pack examples, and 3D development experience.
4. In-Person Interview - We'd like to meet you at our Cottonwood Heights office. Details and logistics will be arranged with your recruiter.
5. Reference Checks - Conducted in parallel with the final stages where possible.
6. Offer - We move quickly for the right candidate.

Interview process is subject to change. Any updates will be communicated promptly and clearly.