Leather Goods Production Manager

Job Description:

• Manage and direct workflow of Proenza Schouler Mainline and White Label accessories production to ensure timely delivery to customers, quality meets luxury standards, and cost to fulfill margin target.
• Liaise between internal teams and factories regarding delivery, cost, and quality.
• Collaborate with design and development to ensure all product design and pricing is updated and appropriate.
• Collaborate with merchandising, sales, and logistic/operations team to review delivery periods of full price/core/off-price offerings, product pricing and margin, plus other concerns that can affect performance of category.
• Ensure our partners in the supply chain are continuously working on speed to market and ways to improve efficiencies, which includes establishing proper planning calendar, upkeep of production tracking chart and RLM, and communication with factories and vendors.
• Manage margin to target, extensive cost negotiations with suppliers, counter-sourcing, and analyzing cost-breakdowns (CBD) for future cost opportunity or pitfalls to pay attention to during development. Manage production expenses and sampling budgets. Upkeep in RLM system.
• Manage production responsibilities of Italian coordinator in Italy office, such as review product industrialization process, negotiate and follow-up with local raw material vendors, and arrange in-line and final quality control in factory.
• Additional development task specific for White Label – Assist design team in development follow-up and tracking, negotiate cost of styles to achieve target margin, track sampling budget spending, establish and maintain production and market timeline, set up and maintain style# in RLM, keep track of salesman sample from delivery until final handoff to press after market.

Overview of Key Responsibilities:

Time and Action

• Create and Manage T&A from first buy to final production shipment. Advise all milestone dates required to design, merchandising, and sales.
• Relay and manage all key approval dates required for cross functional teams as it relates to design and production processes.
• Prioritize all workflow for with engineering teams to ensure priorities are met based on timelines relayed by Proenza Schouler NY teams on a seasonal basis.
• Collaborate with logistics and operations team about delivery dates and communicate any delays.
• Establish proper planning calendar, upkeep of production tracking chart and RLM, and communication with factories and vendors.
• Place production order according to timeline with factory, create and send production order (PO), update costing into RLM, and other RLM maintenance upkeep.

Handoff Meeting

• Re-developing, sourcing, for handbag, accessories, and small leather goods category according to necessity in price, quality, or delivery.
• Manage production expenses and sampling budgets.
• Maintain testing status of carryover goods annually and test new raw material and finished goods to fulfills standard requirements.
• Collaborate with design and development to ensure all product design and pricing is updated and appropriate. Review any issues during development in anticipation of production.

Line Review Presentation Participation

• Understanding of Product to be able to interpret and proactively discuss during development / production handoff meetings. 
• Continually ensure balanced allocations are presented as well as monitoring technical ability of factories. 
• Callout any excessively long lead times for teams as well as workmanship concerns, techniques, wear and tear /sewing challenges during post line review.

People Management

• Continually assess team and mentor interns
• Manage workflow and priorities.
• Challenge status quo and encourage team to as well, empower them with responsibility, and create problem solvers.
• Continually network to find great resources for Proenza Schouler.
• Liaison with Proenza Schouler Italy, Merchandising and Design

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in related Field
• 3-5 prior experience required
• Creative, resourceful, and effective problem solver
• Ability to manage, supervise and mentor junior staff
• Ability to work on new product categories i.e., Jewelry, Footwear where applicable
• Technical knowledge as plus