Senior Executive - Product Innovation & Business Development

Senior Executive - Product Innovation & Business Development

(BASED AT BIYAGAMA)

The Activewear Value Stream delivers high-performance sportswear and athleisure solutions designed for technical functionality, durability and everyday versatility— serving sports, lifestyle and performance segments. With a strong focus on innovation, MAS is advancing wearable technology that tracks fitness and workout analytics while blending advanced sportswear with fashion and aesthetic appeal.

Operating across Sri Lanka, Jordan and Indonesia, and with development centres in Sri Lanka and Canada, Activewear serves a global customer base that includes Nike, Lululemon, Patagonia and Gymshark. The Activewear product range offers diverse solutions such as Knit, Fleece, Tees, Woven, Sweaters, Engineered Knit.

As a unified platform, the Activewear Value Stream combines global scale, speed and technical expertise, positioning MAS as a trusted partner for innovative, performance and lifestyle apparel.

Empower transformation by becoming a driving force of change at MAS. We are on the lookout for a dedicated individual to administrate the process of Ideation, concept creation up to project confirmation and collaboratively work with NIKE counterparts, managing projects of the innovations centre, ensuring all assigned projects and innovative initiatives are successfully seen to completion based on the IP policies while effectively managing customer relationships.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Identify market opportunities by understanding the target end consumer, including demographics, behaviors, attitudes, and unmet or under-met needs, and align these insights with MAS capabilities and global trends to inform innovation opportunities.
• Work with the team (technology entrepreneurs, designers and business teams) to translate consumer unmet needs into actionable “jobs to be done,” developing solutions through the innovation process and building them into Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) with clear production cost considerations.
• Collaborate on manufacturing scalability and investment assessments, presenting key findings to stakeholders.
• Engage in the product costing and cost engineering process to ensure commercial viability.
• Drive marketing efforts by using consumer insights to formulate effective branding and marketing strategies.
• Coordinate the prototype/testing/concept sample development process, including sourcing fabrics and raw materials, to ensure timely completion and delivery of samples.
• Collaborate with technical teams to create validation and test plans and monitor progress.
• Ensure review sessions are scheduled at key stages of the innovation process, contribute to the creation of cross-functional collaboration groups, and maintain updated innovation tracking systems with complete documentation of concepts and packages at each stage.
• Act as the conduit of communication between product creation teams and third-party stakeholders to ensure effective task communication and smooth integration/transition to manufacturing partners.
• Engage and support other concept development activities and initiatives, such as customer visits, special projects, and other sampling processes, by coordinating with relevant internal and external parties to maintain quality and timeliness.
• Take ownership of assigned projects by coordinating and effectively managing all relevant parties, ensuring timely and successful completion through task prioritization, resource management, project budgets, raw material management, and calendar management.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Degree in Fashion Design along with Business Management or relevant professional qualification
• 3-4 years’ experience in Innovation, Prototyping, Product development including product costing
• 1-2 years’ experience in working with NIKE is an added advantage.
• Work experience or professional qualification in Fashion Design is an added advantage.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, negotiation & presentation skills
• Experience in people management is an added advantage.
• IT literacy