Senior Product Development Associate

We are hiring a Senior Product Development Associate to own development execution across both brands, with hands-on ownership of the Retrofête workload and oversight of a PD Assistant who runs the Seroya side. Reporting to the SVP of Product Strategy & Operations, you are the owner of the development workflow and its SOPs, the final data check on costing, and the person who makes sure every style moves through proto, SMS, and into production on calendar with clean, accurate data. This role partners closely with — but does not manage — the Raw Materials team, which owns lab dips, fabric charts, and bulk material approvals.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN

• Development workflow & SOPs: own and continuously improve the department’s workflow, standard operating procedures, and development calendar execution.
• Costing communication: own all costing communication with overseas factories (India and China); perform the final data check on costing before leadership sign-off, and keep Style Import pricing aligned with factory agreements ahead of PO issuance.
• Sample development execution (Retrofête): run repeat sample orders and double development end-to-end; track every sample from request through delivery with clear milestone visibility.
• Systems & data integrity (Retrofête): own Style Import / BOM and NetSuite data entry, keeping a single accurate source of truth as we prepare for PLM implementation.
• SMS handoff quality: final check on SMS swatch, FDS, and sample-order collection so styles are production-ready when they pass to Sales and Production.
• Reorder readiness: run reorder material checks with designers (Retrofête) so repeat styles match approved bulk standards.
• Team leadership: direct and develop the PD Assistant(s); assign and prioritize workload against the production calendar’s critical path; remain accountable for team output.
• Escalation: surface risks, discrepancies, and factory issues to leadership within 24 hours with a clear summary and recommendation — at development stage, never at bulk.

WHAT YOU WON’T OWN

• Raw materials execution — lab dip launches and approvals, fabric/FDS master charts, bulk material submits, and care label compliance sit with our dedicated Raw Materials team. You collaborate with them daily but your lane is development execution and data.
• Vendor negotiation strategy and final costing authority, which remain with leadership.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Samples, repeat orders, and costing requests launched on calendar without reminders; zero missed escalations.
• Style Import, BOM, and NetSuite data accurate at every gate — pricing discrepancies caught before POs go out, not after.
• Clean, complete SMS handoffs to Sales and Production every season.
• A documented, repeatable development workflow the whole team runs on.

Requirements

• 5-7+ years in apparel product development or production, including experience managing direct reports and daily overseas factory communication.
• Meticulous with data: you catch a $0.50 FOB discrepancy before it becomes a PO problem, and you treat data entry accuracy as a professional standard.
• Deadline-driven: you operate at the speed of the production calendar, flag conflicts the same day with a plan, and never let a request sit.
• High ownership: when something in your scope goes wrong, you say so, fix it, and build the SOP that prevents recurrence.
• A proactive communicator: you escalate early, acknowledge direction promptly, and keep factories and internal teams working from one source of truth.
• Systems-fluent: NetSuite (or comparable ERP), Excel/Google Sheets; PLM implementation experience is a strong plus.
• Process-minded: you like writing the SOP as much as running it.
• Ability to remember entire collection in detail

Benefits

• Salary Range: $70,000 - $100,000

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)