Production Associate

Objective Ensure that margin goals established at the onset of each year are met with a focused lens on costs and quality. Direct and manage all aspects of the production cycle for all Girl product that includes cost negotiations for raw materials, cut and sew, and design elements. Work closely with factories and logistics team to ensure timely delivery. Adhere to timelines established on detailed calendars and maintain all costing tools. Special projects assigned pending business need or tied to annual company goals. Responsibilities Pre-Production:  Partner with Product Development to ensure that vendor placement aligns with aesthetic, quality, and cost targets.  Ensure that all approval points set forth by Product Development and Technical Design have been made in a as per the Production Calendar in order to meet bulk delivery date.  Participate in key Product milestone meetings and voice comment or concern for all costing and feasibility of garment execution.  Ensure that all costing tools are updated with proper financial metrics and communicate to cross functional partners. Production:  Facilitate final PO process with cross functional teams and vendor partners. This includes reporting final costing summaries via excel tools, and data entry into internal ERP system.  Participate in key sample meetings that include Fit review, Pre- Production and Top of Production.  Partner with cross functional teams and vendor partners on follow up and execution.  Manage weekly work in progress (WIP ) reports to ensure on time delivery.  Recommend solutions when there are quality issues or delays, and partner with Merchandising and Logistics to resolve. Vendor Management:  Knowledge of vendor capabilities and area of expertise to support cost targets and consistency each season and assess ability and capacity (sample-making and bulk production) to effectively make product for Tea Collection.  Be prepared to travel globally, at least one time a year, to visit factories to understand vendor capabilities.  Develop and maintain effective business relationships with vendors.  Participate in bi-weekly conference call to re-enforce immediate business needs. Sampling:  Responsible for sample management that includes orders, tracking, receiving and distribution of all commercial samples at Tea Collection.  Owns and implements an organized in-house sample tracking process, and is responsible for knowing the location of all samples.  Orders all commercial samples that include Salesman samples, Marketing samples, TOP samples.  Create, send and maintain orders as per Production Calendar due dates.  Direct team members when resources are available to support the workload and process. Qualifications  Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent advanced knowledge through work experience or intellectual instruction.  Production and Product Development experience in apparel manufacturing.  Detail orientation and ability to prioritize and able to work under pressure with multiple deadlines.  Strong costing and negotiation skills.  Proficiency in Microsoft Office, strong analytical skills, and adaptable to proprietary systems.  Entrepreneurial spirit, creative thinking, and flexibility to thrive in a very dynamic environment.  Excellent organizational and time management skills.  Ability to effectively manage up to communicate needs and progress on deadlines.  Experience working with many cultures and across various team.  Ability to swiftly react to change and influence cross functional teams to adapt accordingly.