Job Description
The Manager, Production and Sourcing, is responsible for driving the production and sourcing strategies that enable the Home and Accessories (H&A) categories to grow both qualitatively and quantitatively. This role focuses on implementing strategies that ensure product excellence, operational reliability, continuous improvement, and profitability. The Manager will develop strong relationships with strategic vendors, identify new production partners, and establish agile workflows with secondary suppliers. This individual will also create standardized production processes, evaluate vendor capabilities, execute contractual agreements, and ensure compliance. They will oversee the accuracy of manufacturing plans and maintain close collaboration with the product development team to meet all production targets.
Key Accountabilities
Production Management:
- Lead the production planning process to ensure that all products within the Home and Accessories categories are delivered on time and meet production schedules.
- Implement a robust production follow-up system to monitor and track the status of all orders, ensuring time-to-market targets are consistently met for both new and existing products.
- In collaboration with merchandising ensure all SKUs are signed off on time to allow purchase orders to be placed promptly, enabling smooth execution of the production schedule and preventing delays.
- Ensure alignment of production schedules with vendor capabilities, evaluating key factors such as cost, capacity, and lead times.
- Collaborate closely with vendors to address any production bottlenecks, ensuring all issues are resolved to maintain delivery timelines.
- Develop a tiered approach to vendor management, establishing long-term partnerships with strategic vendors while efficiently managing regular and one-off vendors to optimize production flow.
Sourcing & Vendor Management:
- Lead strategic sourcing initiatives for the Home and Accessories categories, which include but are not limited to: crystal, porcelain, flatware, leather goods, home fragrances, textiles, and gifts.
- Continuously evaluate the supply market to identify opportunities to onboard new suppliers who offer the right skillset, capacity, and competitive pricing to support production needs.
- Collaborate with Product Development to define clear product specifications and scope of work, ensuring alignment with the overall business strategy.
- Build and maintain a streamlined onboarding process for new vendors, ensuring all product development teams are aligned and organized in their approach to vendor management.
- Vendor & Supplier Mapping – Quarterly reporting on the status of the business.
Purchasing & Procurement:
- Manage all aspects of purchasing, ensuring purchase orders (POs) are placed accurately and on time, with full compliance to production schedules and supply plans.
- Conduct thorough cost analyses and negotiations to optimize profitability while ensuring product quality and timely deliveries.
- Collaborate with vendors to continuously improve production processes, reduce lead times, and optimize resource allocation.
- Material and component liability management.
Contract Management & Compliance:
- Develop and manage contractual agreements with suppliers, working closely with the legal department to ensure compliance and risk mitigation.
- Monitor market conditions, currency fluctuations, and commodity prices to manage ongoing cost negotiations and maintain favorable pricing terms.
- Ensure compliance with the company’s ethical sourcing policies and sustainability initiatives across all vendors.
- Manage and coordinate Audits in collaboration with the internal teams.
Logistics & Delivery Management:
- Oversee the entire product journey, ensuring smooth coordination from the vendor to the warehouse, and ultimately to the customer or retail destination.
- Ensure all products are dispatched from vendors on time, with shipment tracking in place to monitor timely arrival at the warehouse.
- Collaborate with logistics partners and freight forwarders to manage transportation, minimizing delays and ensuring uninterrupted supply chain flow.
- Ensure efficient inbound delivery to the warehouse, confirming all inventory is received, processed, and ready for distribution according to schedule in partnership with the warehouse.
- Work closely with warehouse teams to guarantee timely outbound shipments, ensuring that products are dispatched to customers or retail locations as per delivery deadlines.
- Implement real-time tracking and reporting systems to monitor the progress of all deliveries from production to final destination.
- Proactively address any logistics challenges that could impact lead times, working to prevent delays at any stage of the process.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with teams such as Merchandising, Product Development, Demand Planning and Inventory Planning to ensure production aligns with business goals.
- Partner with Product Development to ensure the accurate translation of design concepts into production, facilitating smooth transitions from development to bulk manufacturing.
Team Leadership & Development:
- Coach and develop staff to enhance productivity, accountability, and results-driven performance within the production and sourcing team.
- Create a positive, high-performance culture that encourages continuous improvement and ownership of production timelines and results.
Qualifications/Requirements:
- The qualified candidate will have 8+ years product development experience with expertise in home, fashion textiles, luxury or interior design.
- S/he will be very curious and eager to discover new territories, will think out of the box.
- S/he will have a refined taste level and a true product sensibility.
- S/he will have an overall knowledge/experience of retail business practices,
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) with adaptability to new software, ability to think strategically – then implement steps to achieve goals.
- Must have excellent organizational, communication and written skills, ability to be flexible and adapt to changing priorities, strong interpersonal skills and diplomatic. Undergraduate degree from an accredited University.
