Hermès Materials Enhancements Developer
- Location
- PantinÎle-de-FranceFrance
- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Mid-Level
- Industry
- Fashion, Apparel & Leather Goods
- Posted
- Jun 15, 2026
About Hermès
This prestigious fashion house, renowned for its timeless elegance and innovative designs, is a part of a leading global luxury conglomerate. The brand is committed to excellence and offers a dynamic environment where creativity and business acumen are equally valued.
Hermès Shoe Development seeks Materials Enhancements Developer in Pantin, France to source and develop embellishments across four annual collections.
Role & Responsibilities
- Source, develop, and manage a portfolio of innovative and unique material transformations aligned with quality standards
- Identify and evaluate new supplier capabilities and embellishment techniques; share findings with Style, Collection, and manufacturing teams to enrich creative direction
- Provide technical support to the Design Studio throughout development and refinement of new embellishments
- Monitor development progress from initial sketches through pre-series production, ensuring alignment with design intent, cost targets, and delivery schedules
- Guarantee process reproducibility and reliability to enable production scale-up
- Conduct preliminary costing of prototypes and maintain a dynamic database of alternative specifications
- Use retroplanning tools to align development milestones with decision-making meeting dates
- Create and update technical project documentation; transmit to all stakeholders (development, industrialization, manufacturers, procurement) to ensure finished product specifications
- Codify embellishments in the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) system and integrate into finished product nomenclatures
- Ensure aesthetic consistency of embellishments across all shoe prototypes; defend design integrity throughout development phases
- Collaborate with Product Development Project Managers and manufacturing teams on finished product refinement with suppliers
- Track development milestones from sourcing through industrialization; identify critical path items and organize progress reviews
- Launch, monitor, and archive quality testing of seasonal embellishments
- Work upstream with Procurement teams to ensure compliance with Group directives
- Maintain precise daily planning oversight and management of development tracking tools
- Conduct risk analysis and communicate findings to production teams; gather Supply Chain and Quality feedback to refine future development and industrialization processes
- Remain alert to market trends and organizational improvements; contribute proactive recommendations
Qualifications
- Degree in business, fashion, or engineering
- Minimum 2–3 years' experience in materials development and/or product development
- Technical expertise in material transformation techniques
- Demonstrable knowledge of shoes, leather, and textiles
- Proficiency with graphic design software (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop)
- Proven ability to work across multiple departments and stakeholders
- Strong attention to detail and organizational capability
- Collaborative mindset and excellent interpersonal skills
- Acute sensitivity to product quality and aesthetics
- Italian fluency highly desired
Skills
Experience
Minimum 2 to 3 years in materials development and/or product development, preferably within luxury footwear or leather goods manufacturing.
Education
Degree from a business school, fashion institute, or engineering programme.
Workplace
The role is situated in Pantin, Île-de-France, France — conveniently close to Paris.
Culture
The company fosters a collaborative and innovative culture, encouraging employees to push the boundaries of creativity while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Hermès, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Materials Transformation Developer», «Surface Finishing Specialist», «Materials Embellishment Engineer», «Product Materials Developer», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.