Job DescriptionExperience & Qualifications 8+ years in apparel or soft goods sourcing and product development, including meaningful time as the accountable owner of vendor relationshipsDemonstrated experience building infrastructure: vendor agreements, onboarding processes, cost frameworks, scorecards and calendar disciplineDirect negotiation experience on FOB costs, payment terms and minimums, with the judgement to know what is worth trading and what is notHands-on management of offshore factory and mill relationships through development and production, including issue resolution and performance conversationsWorking knowledge of landed cost and trade compliance: duty, country-of-origin rules and forced-labor import requirementsWorking command of children's product safety and social compliance (CPSIA or equivalent), with experience owning a compliance program rather than administering someone else'sExperience partnering with merchandising and planning on cost-to-margin, capacity and delivery timingPreferredExperience in a high-growth or scaling business where the process had to be built alongside running the seasonCostume, dancewear, performance apparel, or comparable trim-heavy, short-cycle categoriesPLM experience (Centric or equivalent) and ERP familiarity (D365 or equivalent) Experience standing up or managing a third-party inspection programSoft SkillsBuilds vendor relationships that hold under pressure - can hold a factory accountable without breaking the relationshipComfortable being the single point of accountability for a supplier performanceBrings people with them - builds cross-functional alignment rather than escalating, and gives colleagues the context behind a decisionComfortable operating without complete infrastructure, and disciplined about building it rather than working around it
