Senior Technical Designer — Los Angeles, CA (On-site)
My client, an independent Los Angeles apparel brand and creative studio, needs a Senior Technical Designer to own garment fit and construction from first proto through production. The team is small, hands-on and long-tenured. This person is the technical authority in the room: the one designers, pattern makers and the sample room go to when something doesn't fit, doesn't sew or doesn't scale.
What you'll own
- Build and maintain complete tech packs: flats, construction details, points of measure, grade rules, BOMs and trim specs.
- Run fittings on proto, fit and pre-production samples. Document fit comments and send clear, prioritized corrections to pattern makers.
- Review incoming samples against spec, troubleshoot construction problems and sign off before production.
- Set and hold fit and sizing standards across collections so the same size fits the same way every season.
- Keep fit history, sample tracking and spec revisions organized and current in the studio's system.
- Support select spatial or structural projects (fixtures, installations, showroom builds) where technical accuracy matters.
What you bring
- 6+ years in technical design, with at least 2 at senior level or running tech design for a brand on your own.
- Proven fit expertise: you can read a fit issue on a body, diagnose it in the pattern and write a correction the sample room can act on.
- Working knowledge of patternmaking and grading, knits and wovens.
- Adobe Illustrator at a production level. Pattern or 3D software (Gerber, Optitex, CLO 3D or similar) and PLM experience are a plus.
- Output that holds up: specs that are accurate, flats that are clean at full resolution, files others can pick up without asking.
- You learn a system once and keep it. Organization and follow-through matter here as much as craft.
- Architecture, industrial design or 3D fabrication background is a plus, not a requirement.
The details
- Full-time, on-site five days at the East LA warehouse and showroom (90023). Not hybrid. Reliable transportation to the site required.
- Base salary: $85,000–$100,000.
- Benefits: 5 paid sick days; partial employer-paid health insurance.
- Process: in-person interview at the studio, then one paid trial day, then offer.