Manager, Product Stewardship
VF Asia Ltd.
Job Description
* Job Description:
This role leads product compliance and material and product testing across the Asia-Pacific region, ensuring products meet global regulatory and internal requirements. The position owns testing standards, manuals, and governance, and delivers risk-based testing programs across nominated suppliers, vendors, factories, their in-house laboratories, and third-party laboratories using the Project Norma platform. The role proactively anticipates future regulatory and customer requirements and embeds them into product design, development, and manufacturing processes. Reporting to the VP of Global Product Stewardship, the role leads a team of product stewards, product safety specialists and testing specialists, establishes factory and supplier in-house laboratory certification programs, and drives training and capability building for internal and external stakeholders. This position will collaborate with AMER and EMEA Product Stewardship leads, working together to effectively support all VF brands and the VF Supply Chain partners.
* Core Responsibilities:
• Standard Setting & Stewardship:
Leads the development, stewardship, and global harmonization of product testing standards, manuals, and operating procedures across VF brands. Owns the multi-year standard convergence roadmap, driving alignment and simplification across brands, regions, and product categories to reduce complexity, eliminate duplication, and improve consistency. Translates legal and regulatory requirements into clear, actionable product standards and ensures they are systematically embedded into design, development, and manufacturing processes.
• Product Safety & Compliance:
Ensures all products designed, sourced, produced and sold in the Asia-Pacific region meet internal and external compliance requirements. Leads product safety reviews with a focus on design safety, managing the review and approval process "post–Tech Pack" handover to Supply Chain to identify, assess, and mitigate product safety risks. Drives global initiatives to strengthen product stewardship and consumer safety.
• Testing Program Governance:
Establishes and governs the overall material and product testing program, including defining testing requirements, standards, manuals, and operating procedures. Ensures consistent application of risk-based testing strategies across suppliers, factory and supplier in-house laboratories, and third-party laboratories. Oversees program governance, performance monitoring, and data integrity through the testing platform (e.g., Project Norma).
• Supplier & Factory In-house Laboratory Certification and Proficiency Program:
Establishes and oversees the supplier and factory in-house laboratory certification and proficiency program, including certification requirements, audit and re-certification cadence, proficiency testing, inter-laboratory comparisons, and CAP management. Ensures transparent lab capability assessment and reliable testing data to support product safety and compliance decisions.
• External Third-Party Laboratory Management & Partnerships:
Leads governance and management of external third-party testing laboratories, including qualification, performance monitoring, and relationship management. Establishes proficiency expectations to ensure accuracy, consistency, and comparability of results, and maintains strong partnerships to support capacity and continuous improvement.
• Leadership & Team Management:
Leads and develops a high-performing team of Product Stewards and testing specialists, clarifies roles and responsibilities, and fosters a culture of rigorous, owning-the-outcome and risk-based product safety stewardship. Provides strategic and operational leadership across brands and functions.
• Training & Capability Building:
Designs and delivers training and education programs for internal teams, suppliers, vendors, and testing partners, building organizational capability in testing methods, data interpretation, and risk-based decision-making.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
Maintains strong alignment with brands, product supply teams, and quality management, ensuring clear communication of requirements and effective engagement to support compliance and execution.
Requirements (Education Level, year of experience):
• At least 5 years of experience in Material and Product testing, Textiles, Manufacturing, Quality Management, Laboratory operations.
• 4-year degree or above in Textiles, Material Science, Engineering, Testing.
Software Skills/Competencies required:
• Experience with chemical analytical testing
• Experience in supply chain collaboration/ Testing platforms
• Working experience in “design hazard analysis (DHA)”
• Working knowledge on testing equipment such as Tensile Tester, Martindale Tester, etc.
• Experience in data analysis and development of metric-based dashboards
• Coaching and Developing Others
• Facilitating Change
• Business Acumen
• Operational Decision Making
• Driving Results
• Influence
• Must be an excellent collaborator and communicator
• Proficient PC skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Lotus Notes)
• Logical thinker, take initiatives, handle and prioritize multiple projects, and work independently
• Must be detail-oriented with exceptional time-management skills
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