Fashion & Lifestyle – Product Developers
Fashion and lifestyle businesses ask Encore Recruitment to help them hire product developers.
Fashion and lifestyle professionals ask us to help them find product developer opportunities.
We find, assess and recommend people they’d want to work with.
Key Takeaways
- Product developer recruitment across fashion and lifestyle: We recruit from Trainee Product Developer to Product Development Manager roles for brands, retailers, suppliers and importers across fashion, accessories, footwear, beauty and homeware.
- Understand, find and filter: We understand what you’re trying to achieve, find people who could help, and filter what we find through that understanding.
- Assess, qualify and recommend: We assess and qualify who remains before deciding who we’re prepared to recommend. We make the recommendation. You decide what happens next.
Product Developer Recruitment Starts for Different Reasons
Businesses recruit product developers to address development pressures, supplier relationships or changing responsibilities.
Product developers consider moving for broader product responsibility, greater supplier involvement or more influence over product decisions.
What if Product Development is Starting to Slow Down?
A Product developer can help coordinate sample approvals, supplier communication, critical paths and the movement of products towards production when development activity becomes harder to manage.
As product ranges grow, supplier networks expand, or timelines become more demanding, development activity can become difficult to coordinate across multiple teams.
What if Supplier Relationships Need Greater Ownership?
A Product developer can take greater ownership of supplier communication, development timelines, approvals and production issues while connecting external suppliers with internal teams.
You may need someone who can manage development conversations, challenge delays, coordinate approvals, solve production issues and maintain momentum across multiple product launches.
What if You're Ready to Take Ownership of More Product Categories?
That may mean managing a wider product area, working directly with suppliers, taking responsibility for development timelines, influencing costing discussions, or stepping into a senior position with greater commercial accountability.
What if You Want to be Closer to Product Decisions?
Some product developers find themselves focused on administration and coordination while having limited influence over the wider development process.
A move may be driven by the chance to work more closely with design, sourcing, technical or production teams and contribute earlier to the decisions shaping the final product.
Product Developer Careers, Responsibilities and Salaries
The Same Product Developer Title Can Mean Different Things
Product developers sit between design, garment technology, sourcing, merchandising, suppliers and production teams.
Depending on the organisation, responsibilities may include supplier communication, sample management, critical path ownership, costing support, development tracking, factory liaison, approvals and production coordination.
Retailers, brands, suppliers and importers organise product development in different ways. A retailer may place greater emphasis on supplier coordination and critical path management. A supplier may require someone managing multiple customer requirements across several accounts. A brand may focus more heavily on product creation, development ownership and collaboration across internal teams.
The same title can therefore lead to different conversations depending on where responsibility sits within the organisation.
Product Developer Responsibilities Change as Careers Progress
Product development careers can develop through the following stages:
- Trainee Product Developer
- Assistant Product Developer
- Product Developer
- Senior Product Developer
- Product Development Manager
As careers progress, responsibility can expand beyond sample coordination and development administration into supplier management, costing discussions, production ownership, cross-functional leadership and team development.
Product Developer Salaries Reflect Responsibility, Experience and Market Demand
Salary expectations are influenced by product category, sourcing exposure, supplier responsibility, business size, location and market demand.
Typical salary ranges across parts of the UK fashion and lifestyle sector include:
- Trainee Product Developer: £26,000
- Assistant Product Developer: £27,000
- Product Developer: £30,000
- Senior Product Developer: £35,000
- Product Development Manager: £50,000+
Salary ranges updated August 2026
Salary ranges are indicative. Any salary offered must reflect contracted hours, the applicable age band and UK National Minimum Wage requirements.
How We Approach Product Developer Recruitment
Understanding What You're Looking For
For a business, we start with why you're recruiting and what the product developer needs to contribute: product categories, sourcing structures, supplier relationships, development challenges, team structure and commercial expectations.
For a professional, we explore what you're doing now and what you want next: career ambitions, product interests, supplier exposure, leadership goals and the type of environment in which you want to contribute.
A job title or CV gives us information. The conversation gives us the context needed to use it.
Finding Product Developers and Opportunities Worth Exploring
For clients, what we learn helps us identify product developers whose experience gives us a reason to have a conversation.
Because product developer responsibilities can sit across different parts of the development process, we consider experience in the context of where responsibility sits, the product, supplier relationships and what the position needs to contribute rather than relying on title alone.
For professionals, it helps us identify opportunities that may support what you're looking for next.
Not every person identified leads to a conversation. Not every opportunity discussed leads to representation.
Discover how we approach our Process.
Before We Make a Recommendation
Finding a product developer is not the same as recommending one.
Every recommendation is shaped by conversations, questions and assessment completed throughout our process. Recommendations reflect what we learn about the position, the organisation, the individual and the circumstances surrounding the decision.
The opportunity is discussed with the candidate first. We don't represent someone for a role until they have agreed that they want us to do so.
Read the guidelines behind our Recommendation Standard.
Clients and Candidates Decide What Happens Next
We don't decide who gets hired or who accepts an offer. We make a recommendation. Clients and candidates decide what happens next.
A client may want to interview, ask questions or not proceed. A candidate may continue, need more information or decide the opportunity isn't for them.
Where both sides continue, we support interviews, feedback and offer discussions through to the start.
If either side doesn't want to proceed, we understand why and agree what happens next.
FAQ
What Does a Product Developer Do?
Product developers help move products from concept into production. Responsibilities can include supplier communication, sample coordination, development tracking, approvals, costing support and collaboration across design, technical, sourcing and production teams.
Can Garment Technologists or Merchandisers Move into Product Development?
Yes. Product developers come from a range of backgrounds. Some move from garment technology, bringing technical and construction knowledge. Others move from merchandising, bringing supplier coordination, planning and critical path experience.
Do Product Developers Work Directly with Factories and Suppliers?
Many positions involve regular communication with suppliers, factories and sourcing offices throughout development, sampling and production stages.
Hiring a Product Developer?
Start a conversation about what you’re looking for. You can either Submit a Vacancy→ or Contact Us→
Considering Your Next Product Developer Role?
Start a conversation about where you’d like to go. You can either View Jobs→ or Contact Us→