After winning 11 medals at the Paris Olympics, 22 at the Paralympics, and fresh off matching their best-ever Track World Championships medal haul, British Cycling is seeking a new apparel engineer to continue that success.
The new role will see the successful applicant join the Great Britain Cycling Team, working from the Apparel Sampling Studio at BC's wind tunnel in Manchester.
The advantages or disadvantages of clothing are seen most on the track, where a ribbed line here, or a crease there, could be the difference between medals at the top of the sport.
The suits worn by GB at the Olympics and the World Championships this year were debuted at the Glasgow Worlds in 2023, and were designed by Kalas in partnership with Silverstone-based aero experts Vorteq, but it appears that BC thinks more of that design should happen in-house, whatever brand goes on the front.
Apparel includes everything on the rider, so helmets too, which are a big part of the aerodynamic battle going on on the track. BC's current helmets on the track are made by Belgian company Lazer.
Speaking to CW earlier this year, BC's performance director, Stephen Park, said: "For those of us that are into tech, it's quite interesting times. Some pieces of equipment are limited and set by that homologation [UCI approval process]. Some have some degrees of freedom within them. It's even more so on the apparel side, the clothing side."
It sounds like the new apparel engineer will have their work cut out making the most of those "degrees of freedom" in designing kit for the stars of the future.
The job description reads: "A recently furnished Apparel Sampling Studio based on the site of a the new state-of-the-art cycling wind tunnel gives a cutting edge set up fir [sic] this role to operate in and provides the platform for GBCT to continue it’s [sic] world leading ambitions for rapid prototyping and testing as well as long-term investigative work. The sport is looking for an Apparel Engineer who has both the expertise and motivation to create and lead a program of cycling apparel excellence.
"As Apparel Engineer, you will work collaboratively with the Equipment & Apparel Development Team to drive informed innovation within apparel each season across all cycling disciplines," it continues. "The role will require you to work across GBCT, interacting with coaches, support staff & riders to identify performance opportunities or challenges, looking to initiate product solutions to achieve measurable improvements.
"The role requires the creativity & technical capability for sampling and the ability to strategically prioritise defined projects. You will be the direct link with clothing commercial partners, supporting them to deliver outstanding apparel for the GBCT."
Candidates are asked to be curious, passionate, good at building rapport, credible, and analytical. Being able to find the fastest skinsuits in the world would probably help your case, too.
If you're interested, you can apply here.
