Maternity Garment Designer - Toronto - Flutter Care

Description

Please note only applications submitted via this Google Form will be considered:

About the Company

Flutter Care is a Canadian health technology startup advancing maternal care through human-centered, technically rigorous innovation. Our mission is to bring more joy, confidence, and connection to every stage of the perinatal journey while driving better health outcomes through thoughtfully engineered products. We develop breakthrough maternal solutions at the intersection of design, engineering, and clinical insight, equipping expectant individuals with tools that support informed decision-making and self-advocacy. As a small, fast-moving, and deeply collaborative team, we value precision, experimentation, and intentional design in everything we build.

Flutter Care is a proud member of the TMU Fashion Zone incubator, Canada's leading fashion innovation hub where design, technology, and entrepreneurship converge. Backed by leading investors and accelerators, we're on a strong path to becoming a category leader in maternal health and we're looking for technically minded garment designers to help shape the future of maternity apparel.

About the Role

Flutter Care is seeking a Maternity Garment Designer (Contract) to work alongside our product and engineering teams on the development of next-generation maternity garments. This role is focused on technically complex apparel that must perform reliably across changing body geometries, movement patterns, and real-world use conditions.

You'll translate functional requirements: comfort, adaptability, support, durability, and integration with product systems, into thoughtfully engineered garments. The ideal candidate is comfortable thinking in systems: how materials, construction, fit, and user behavior interact, and how apparel can be designed as a functional product rather than purely a fashion item.

This role requires close collaboration with engineers, rapid prototyping, and iterative problem-solving. If you're excited by technical constraints, data-informed design decisions, and building technical garments that have clinical impact (plus look and feel good) we'd love to meet you.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Garment Design & Development

• Design maternity garments that meet defined functional, ergonomic, and technical requirements.
• Translate product and system-level needs into garment architecture, construction strategies, and material choices.
• Design for adaptability across pregnancy stages, postpartum recovery, and daily movement.
• Develop and refine patterns, grading strategies, and fit standards for dynamic body changes.
• Lead fittings and systematically evaluate fit, tension, pressure points, and mobility.
• Iterate designs based on structured feedback, measurements, and performance observations.

Materials & Construction Innovation

• Research, evaluate, and specify fabrics and trims based on stretch behavior, recovery, compression, breathability, durability, and wash performance.
• Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturers to prototype and validate construction techniques.
• Balance comfort, manufacturability, and performance in material and construction decisions.

Prototyping, Testing & Iteration

• Drive rapid prototyping cycles from concept through pre-production.
• Evaluate prototypes under real-world wear conditions and document findings.
• Incorporate feedback from users, product testing, and engineering reviews into design iterations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with product managers, engineers, and clinical advisors to align garment design with system-level goals.
• Participate in technical design reviews and contribute to trade-off discussions (fit vs. complexity, performance vs. cost).
• Support integration considerations between garments and other product components where applicable.

Documentation & Design Control

• Produce detailed, production-ready tech packs and specifications.
• Maintain clear documentation of design intent, revisions, and decisions to support manufacturing and future development.

Qualifications

Required

• Degree or diploma in Fashion Design, Apparel Design, Technical Design, or equivalent professional experience (current students are welcome to apply).
• 3+ years of experience in garment design or technical apparel development.
• Strong understanding of pattern-making, garment construction, and fit engineering.
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and technical design tools.
• Experience developing detailed tech packs and working directly with manufacturers.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with engineers and non-design stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills and attention to detail.

Preferred

• Background in performance wear, medical garments, or technically complex apparel systems.
• Familiarity with stretch, compression, or sensor-compatible textiles.
• Experience working in a startup, incubator, or R&D-focused environment.
• Interest in data-informed or user-tested design processes.
• Contract-based role with flexible hours (scope and duration to be defined)
• In person work at our office at MaRS or studio space at TMU both in Downtown Toronto
• Potential for extended or future collaboration as products evolve

How to Apply

Please submit your application via this Google Form:

Encouragement to Apply

We recognize that innovation happens at the edges of disciplines. If you're a garment designer who enjoys working closely with engineers, thinking through technical constraints, and building apparel as a functional product system, we encourage you to apply—even if you don't meet every qualification listed.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Flutter Care is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all collaborators. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are dedicated to ensuring fair and equitable hiring practices.

#J-18808-Ljbffr