Apparel Product Development Associate Manager

Apparel Product Development Associate Manager

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, or a related field
• 3-5 years of apparel product development experience
• Overseas apparel manufacturing operations experience
• Basic understanding of apparel product lifecycle and factory WIP follow up
• Intermediate understanding of garment construction, components, as well as technical knowledge of apparel production
• Must be proactive and possess the ability to meet multiple tight deadlines
• Must have exceptional organizational skills
• Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Must have strong knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel (Google Doc and Sheets); ability to compile and synthesize complex data and utilize it to solve problems
• Highly collaborative with a ‘no task is too small’ attitude, willing to jump in as needed to support the team

Responsibilities

• Own the end to end product development lifecycle of assigned vendors and/or categories, including the hand-off between Product Development, Technical Design & Production
• Manage day to day operations pertaining to effective product management, strategic costing, brand and factory compliance, sample management, and quality assurance
• Communicate daily with overseas vendors to monitor and track development statuses, ensure timely sample delivery, cost sheets are completed accurately and on time; attend weekly calls with overseas vendors for exception management
• Collaborate with vendor(s) to oversee and maintain accurate WIPs for each vendor; review, track, and troubleshoot issues to uphold key milestone dates
• Partner and prioritize with cross functional departments that are related to product development to make sure calendar deadlines are met, keeping processes and teams constantly moving towards its goals
• Communicate effectively with cross functional teams (Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, Materials R&D, Purchasing, Production); update the teams regularly on deliverables and alert the teams of any unexpected issues and negotiate resolutions with vendors
• Have a strong understanding of product knowledge and cost construction to negotiate costs and deliveries with vendor partners to ensure best profit margin and lead times are achieved
• Manage, maintain & provide vendors with accurate BOMs in accordance to delivery deadlines
• Keep PO statuses, materials, and calendar dates in our ERP system up to date with real time accuracy from Design pass off stage through the production hand off stage
• Attend daily fittings to ensure design intent, cost margins and quality standards are met. Take notes, follow up with internal & external partners as needed
• Track sample ETAs; coordinate with QC & Technical Design to ensure samples are ready for design fittings
• Partner with Production team counterparts regularly for exception management
• Provide regular reports to managers/team to include but not limited to calendar delays, margin challenges, at risk styles, etc
• Assist in new vendor sourcing projects
• Plan and prioritize workload to meet deadlines based on business priorities
• Support the manager & director in executing and reinforcing both team and Supply Chain/Product Development objectives as discussed in regular one-on-one and group meetings
• Aim to understand and achieve department level financial top line and inventory goals (weekly deliverables, quality, receipt $s)
• Manage a clear stream of work and execute flawlessly against key responsibilities
• Support special projects as needed

Preferred Qualifications

No preferred qualifications provided.