Senior Production & Operations Manager — DTC Fashion

Salary: $120,000–$145,000 depending on experience

The Role: You will own the operational flow of product through the business. Working across Shopify and our ERP/inventory system, you will understand what has been sold, what inventory is available, what is already in production and what still needs to be ordered. You will raise and manage purchase orders, communicate directly with our factories, monitor production schedules and quality issues, manage incoming shipments and ensure inventory reaches our US and UK fulfilment operations when required. A significant part of the role is factory management. You will be the day-to-day operational point of contact for our production partners: following up on delays, understanding production constraints, resolving quantity discrepancies, coordinating QC issues and corrective actions, and ensuring problems are followed through to resolution rather than simply reported. You will also oversee our fulfilment teams in the US and UK and ensure inventory, orders and shipments are accurately reflected within our systems. A major part of this role will be owning and developing our use of Cin7 Core, so previous Cin7 experience is highly desirable. Strong hands-on experience managing another inventory/ERP platform is essential.

Key Responsibilities: Act as the primary day-to-day operational contact for factories and production partners across Asia, India and Ukraine. Maintain close visibility over production schedules, capacity, work in progress and expected completion dates. Proactively follow up on production delays and understand the underlying operational reason for them rather than simply accepting revised dates. Identify potential production bottlenecks and risks early and work directly with factories to find practical solutions. Follow up on QC failures, manufacturing issues and recurring quality problems with factories and ensure corrective actions are agreed and implemented. Coordinate with internal product/design teams and factories when production issues require technical or product input. Track recurring QC issues and ensure agreed improvements are reflected in future production. Investigate discrepancies between ordered, produced, shipped and received quantities. Challenge suppliers constructively where production, quality or delivery performance falls below expectations. Maintain clear accountability with factories around agreed quantities, quality standards and deadlines. Develop strong working relationships with factory management while maintaining appropriate commercial and operational discipline. Understand factory capacity and production constraints and factor these into purchasing and delivery planning. Provide clear visibility internally when a production issue is likely to affect customer delivery dates. Inventory, Purchasing and Cin7Own Cin7 Core and maintain accurate inventory, purchasing and operational data across the business. Translate Shopify customer demand and sales forecasts into purchasing and production requirements. Determine what needs to be ordered, when it needs to be ordered and from which supplier. Create, issue and manage purchase orders across our production partners. Allocate incoming and available inventory against customer demand. Identify customer orders that are covered by physical inventory, covered by incoming production, or still require purchasing. Monitor outstanding and backordered customer orders and proactively identify potential delays. Develop inventory forecasting and replenishment processes to ensure production decisions are driven by real demand. Maintain accurate inventory across US and UK warehouse locations.

Freight and International Logistics: Take ownership of product from factory completion through to receipt at the appropriate fulfilment centre. Manage partial PO fulfilment where factories ship different quantities from multiple POs across multiple shipments. Track international shipments from factory dispatch through customs clearance and final warehouse receipt. Coordinate inbound freight and inventory transfers between international locations where required. Maintain working knowledge of HS classifications, import requirements, customs documentation, duties and international shipping processes. Manage relationships with freight and courier partners and troubleshoot customs or delivery issues. Ensure incoming shipment information and expected delivery dates are accurately reflected within our systems.

Fulfilment Operations: Oversee our US and UK fulfilment operations. Manage the fulfilment teams and ensure they have the inventory and information required to fulfil orders efficiently. Monitor fulfilment performance, outstanding orders and operational backlogs. Work closely with fulfilment teams to investigate inventory discrepancies and ensure receipts, returns and adjustments are correctly recorded. Ensure warehouse inventory accurately reconciles with Cin7.Identify and resolve operational issues affecting fulfilment speed or accuracy.

What we're looking for: You are an experienced hands-on operations professional who is comfortable owning the detail. You don't just review reports. You are happy creating the PO, checking the quantities, calling or emailing the factory to understand why production is behind schedule, investigating a QC failure, checking what inventory is covering an outstanding customer order, resolving a customs problem and following a shipment until it reaches the warehouse. You should have:

• Significant experience in production, supply chain, inventory or operations, ideally within fashion, apparel, luxury, consumer goods or DTC.Direct experience working with international factories and manufacturers.
• A strong understanding of garment/apparel production operations would be highly advantageous.
• Experience managing production schedules, factory delays and supplier performance.
• Experience dealing with quality control issues and corrective actions with manufacturers.
• Strong hands-on experience with an inventory management or ERP platform — this is essential.
• Cin7 Core experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience working with Shopify or a comparable e-commerce platform.
• Strong understanding of purchase orders, inventory allocation, backorders, lead times and demand planning.
• Experience managing international freight and inbound logistics.
• Working knowledge of customs documentation, HS codes, duties and international import/export requirements.
• Experience working across multiple warehouses or fulfilment locations.
• Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and an ability to identify operational problems before they affect customers.
• Confidence communicating directly with factories, warehouses, freight partners and senior management.
• The ability to operate independently without needing a large team or extensive corporate infrastructure.
• Experience with Xero would be advantageous but is not essential.
• Whats success looks like
• At any point, you should be able to tell us:
• What have we sold?
• What do we physically have?
• What is currently being produced?
• Is production running to schedule — and if not, why?
• Are there any quality issues that could affect upcoming deliveries?
• Which incoming purchase orders cover our outstanding customer orders?
• When will that inventory arrive?
• Which customer orders are currently not covered?
• What do we need to order next?
• Most importantly, when something goes wrong, we expect you to understand the problem, take ownership of it and drive it through to resolution.
• Working StyleThis is a remote US-based position, and candidates can be located anywhere in the United States.
• Our wider operations are international, so you must be comfortable communicating across time zones and working directly with production partners in Asia and Europe.
• We are a small, entrepreneurial business rather than a large corporate organisation. The right person will enjoy autonomy, move quickly, take ownership and be comfortable switching between strategic planning and detailed operational execution.