Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing sourcing team, managing workload allocation and professional growth.
Maintain business continuity by providing high-level coverage for Senior Product Manager/Product Manager duties during peak seasons or staffing gaps.
Spearhead specialized sourcing and product development projects that align with enterprise-wide business priorities and drive continuous process improvement.
Ensure organizational resilience through succession planning and scalable team structures.
Orchestrate the full product lifecycle from initial concept through production execution in collaboration with Sales, Merchandising, Planning, and Design.
Establish and enforce product development requirements and workflows for both internal teams and external vendors.
Synchronize complex production calendars across diverse brands, channels, and categories (e.g., Club vs. Discounter cycles), ensuring tailored Time & Action for every program.
Oversee sampling and counter-sourcing strategies, optimizing for Country of Origin (COO), vendor core competencies, and landed cost.
Schedule in office and virtual appointments with new and existing vendors to build business relationships. Follow up on next steps after appointments on development and cost.
Drive vendor and mill consolidation strategies, including COO risk management, performance recaps, and continuous improvement plans.
Partner with Demand Planning to align vendor capabilities with seasonal product strategies and long-term capacity planning.
Ensure adherence to retailer routing guides, labeling standards, ticketing, and EDI requirements; actively manage compliance performance to minimize chargebacks and penalties.
Develop agile sourcing strategies to support reorder and chase programs, including greige goods positioning and quick-turn vendor capabilities.
Partner with Sales and Merchandising pre-market to validate costing, capacity feasibility, and margin targets prior to account commitment.
Lead proactive risk management across vendor portfolio, including country diversification, tariff mitigation, and contingency production planning.
Direct all costing negotiations to drive competitive pricing and identify cost-saving opportunities that consistently meet or exceed margin targets.
Strategically manage fabric counter-development; leverage existing approved mills from mainline collections to increase efficiency and speed-to-market.
Maintain comprehensive historical records of fabric utilization to inform year-over-year material strategies.
Collaborate with Quality Assurance (QA) to proactively resolve factory-level issues, ensuring high product standards and minimizing future quality risks.
Manage the bulk order lifecycle, monitoring raw material/trim deliveries and factory production to ensure on-time shipping and QA compliance.
Lead the resolution of delivery delays by negotiating with vendors and international teams to minimize lead-time impact and presenting viable solutions to business stakeholders.

Requirements

10+ years of production/sourcing experience within a retail or wholesale environment
5+ years of leadership experience managing production teams
Knowledge of Clubs (Costco, Sam’s Bj’s) & Discounters business is required
Strong vendor negotiation and cost management expertise
Deep understanding of global manufacturing (Asia, Central America, domestic production, etc.)
Experience working with major wholesale accounts and their compliance requirements
Knowledge of ERP/PLM systems
Strong analytical and financial acumen.

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

sourcingproduct developmentvendor negotiationcost managementagile sourcing strategiesrisk managementcompliance managementfabric counter-developmentproduction executionanalytical skills

Soft Skills

leadershipcoachingteam developmentrelationship buildingcommunicationproblem-solvingstrategic thinkingcollaborationorganizational skillsnegotiation