PRINCIPAL, APPAREL MATERIALS MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING (MME)
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH
This role reports to the Director, Apparel Materials Manufacturing Engineering (MME) & Materials Source Options (MSO) and partners closely with Product Risk Engineering (PRE), Materials Quality Engineering (MQE), Materials Development, Supplier Management, Materials Sourcing, Product Creation, Product Integrity, Manufacturing & Systems Engineering and external material suppliers to align on readiness strategy and execution.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
The Principal, Apparel Materials Manufacturing Engineering (MME) role is a senior technical individual contributor responsible for owning manufacturing readiness strategy for innovation, new materials, processes, and suppliers. This role operates early in the creation calendar and shapes Nike's material readiness strategy decision frameworks to protect must-win sport moments.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; advanced engineering or materials degree preferred.
- Minimum 8-10+ years of experience in materials manufacturing engineering, innovation scale-up, or supply chain risk management.
- Deep technical expertise in apparel materials manufacturing and supplier capability assessment.
- Ability to operate in ambiguity and influence senior stakeholders
- Strong systems thinking with the ability to connect risk, quality, capacity, and scale.
- Strong communication skills translating technical risk into clear business impact and recommendations.
- Ability to travel approximately 10%.
WHAT YOU'LL WORK ONLeads upstream manufacturing readiness for innovation materials by assessing scalability risks, defining readiness gates, and guiding go/no-go decisions. Partners on product risk evaluation, translates downstream learnings into preventive standards, and serves as the senior technical escalation point for material manufacturing readiness. You will:
- Own upstream manufacturing readiness strategy for innovation and high-risk materials.
- Partner in Product Risk Assessment execution for materials manufacturing, defining focus areas and readiness priorities.
- Assess manufacturability, scalability, and capability gaps for new materials, processes, and suppliers.
- Define readiness gates, risk thresholds, and go / no-go recommendations for scale.
- Translate downstream production and quality learnings into upstream standards and risk prevention frameworks.
- Serve as senior technical escalation point for material manufacturing readiness decisions.
