Footwear Product Manager APPLY NOW
At Brunch, we are building a community around a lifestyle of leisure and relaxation; Like those Sundays when you walk down the street to your favorite brunch spot to be stress-free with your favorite friends. Through meaningful campaigns, amazing stories, high-quality content and offline events, we have brought our customers a product that is cozy, convenient and that brings the carefree mindset we wish we were always in.
We are looking for a Product Manager to oversee daily activities across product development and production of our footwear & accessory products. Responsibilities include researching best-in-class materials, communicating with factories, coordinating the development of new products and managing the production of upcoming orders. We are looking for individuals that want to be a part of a lean, entrepreneurial and fast-pace team, but also want to kick it once the day ends. We are looking to build a family that will continue to create emotional connections with each other and with the brand.
Key Responsibilities:
- General
- Onboard to the Brunch Culture & Brand Identity to ensure proper education
- Ownership of the product calendar, holding all relevant parties accountable to dates
- Maintaining tracking systems for efficient internal updates
- Lead the development & production of our new footwear lines as well as our miscellaneous accessory products
- Product Development
- Material and fabric selection and sourcing
- Tracking proto/CFM/fit samples, making sample corrections and managing communications with factory partners regarding approval status and maintaining deadlines
- Research and identify new innovations in the footwear market related to fabrics, materials and construction, most importantly in sustainability and comfort
- Maintains fabric and materials library for their categories. Material and fabric sourcing/development, establishing standards and submitting to overseas partners/vendors for counter sourcing. Requests/organizes all fabric details for costing reference
- Communicates accurate details relating to sampling, costing and product details to all cross functional teams and vendors/factories. Tracks all development fees, reviews with management for approval
- Production
- Develop a deep understanding of vendor capabilities and use knowledge to lead the team to develop best possible product within vendor limitations
- Develop factory relations that optimize for low MOQs & quick deliveries
- Meeting with and/or visiting footwear factories and material/ component suppliers
- Setup comprehensive factory onboarding processes, that allow for accountability and efficiency
- Submit PO’s, set timelines
- Communicate daily with all vendors regarding each phase of development and production
- Coordinate inventory receipt at warehouse
- Supplier payments / cost structure
- Troubleshoot sourcing, development and lead-time issues with the factories, ensuring you are offering outside the box solutions to problems or delays that may occur
- Merchandising
- Assist with line plan development
- Assist with inventory planning & splits across each location (warehouse, retail, wholesale)
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in a business or related field
- Experienced leader; preferably has operated in an early stage, entrepreneurial company and has experience working for a direct to consumer brand
- Experienced (3+ years) in footwear production/PD, specifically in a direct-to-consumer and working with smaller scale suppliers
- Familiarity with all business functions including design and development
- Experience communicating directly with factories, checking quality + make of samples
- Ability to travel
- Innovative, team-player with proven success in a constantly evolving environment with rapidly changing priorities
- Ability to flex between micro and macro level thinking and work with all levels of management
- A communicative leader. Able to develop and maintain effective relationships and partnerships both cross-functionally within the business and with external partners
- Exceptionally organized. Able to multitask and prioritize, highly detail-oriented with exceptional follow-through
- Must have exceptional computer skills (MS Office, Excel)
- Collaborator who values integrity, innovation, respect and excellence.