Head of Product at Claude & Co in Mountsorrel

At Claude & Co we are about more than clothes. We design with a lot of thought, a little playfulness, and most importantly with care. We make pieces that families feel good about choosing and love wearing, always with something unique that feels unmistakably Claude & Co.

Ten years in, we are a fast-growing independent brand, sold online and through leading department stores and independents around the world. We are led by our Founder and Creative Director, Abi, who is closely involved in the product, the brand and the detail. Product has always been at the centre of what we do, and the next chapter is about scaling it with the same care and attention at our core.

The Role

You will report directly to Abi. She is a real creative with deep pride in the detail of every Claude & Co piece, she sets the creative direction and sets the tone. This role exists to make that direction work in practice: leading the whole product discipline, and making sure communication between Abi, leadership and the product team works at its best in both directions. It's so much about trust within that process and that relationship together. We need someone who can bring clarity and run the function.

You will lead design, garment technology, buying and merchandising, manage a team of eight. This is not a role about being the expert in one discipline. It is about the wider perspective: seeing how every part of product connects, and building the processes, rhythm and improvements that let our talented team do our best work and feel good about it.

At its heart, this is a management role. Great management of this team is the most important thing you will do, and you will love that side of the role as much as the product.

This is not a corporate style role. We are a fast paced scaling business and a brand, and product touches everything: retail, wholesale, our store, marketing, photoshoots, ads, margins and budgets. You will be hands-on, visible across every team, and thrive on it.

You will work hand in hand with our Head of Marketing: from range plan to launch, and shared accountability for brilliant product landing with its story.

You’ll be responsible for:

Leading the team

• Set clear accountabilities, coach and develop each person, hold regular one to ones and give honest feedback
• Understand each discipline well enough to lead it, and each person well enough to know what they need from you
• Build a team that trusts each other and owns its results

Being the filter

• Sit between Abi, leadership and the product team, and make both sides work better
• Resolve what can be resolved, and bring the right questions up early with a clear recommendation
• Turn direction into briefs and priorities the team can act on

Process and improvement

• Own the critical path as the single version of the truth, from concept to delivery
• Be really curious about the why: do we have to do it like that? What else might we do?
• Build the systems, sign-off gates and handovers that make great product repeatable

The commercial range

• Be ultimately accountable for the range plan, option counts, price architecture, margin, open to buy and sell-through across D2C and wholesale
• Read the trade weekly, and plan the next season and years from what the last one taught us
• Manage and develop our factory partners around the world, protecting cost, quality and our ethical standards
• Travel when needed

Partnering across the business

• Make sure product lands on time with its story, imagery and stock, for marketing, photoshoots, retail and wholesale

About You

• You are a people leader first, with a wide view of product and a commercial head
• You get your energy from developing others and building the structure that lets a team thrive
• You enjoy working closely with a creative founder, respect the detail, and are confident pushing back with a clear point of view

Essential Experience & Skills

• Senior product and commercial experience in fashion, with at least five years leading and developing teams, preferably across more than one of design, buying and merchandising
• A proven record of owning a critical path and improving the process behind it
• Strong commercial and merchandising grounding: range planning, margin, open to buy and sell-through
• Technical product knowledge and experience managing overseas factories
• Experience working within a growing brand or founder-led business
• Experience in a growing brand selling both D2C and wholesale, as both are so important but can make this far more complicated
• Experienced in Shopify and monday.com

Personal Attributes

Our five values drive our decisions. In this role they look like this

• You love product and protect it. Every piece earns its place in the range and you're excited to see that in work
• You set a high standard and build the process that holds it. If something is in the way, you work on moving around it to keep to that goal of being excellent
• You do the planning nobody sees, so the team and the customer only feel the ease. Knowing that in a growing business it's gritty, we don't always have the answers and sometimes you have to dig deep to find them, be patient and lead the way
• You ask why and love to give context to decisions made. We know we get better from all angles when we ask the hard questions, being confident in that is key
• Calm under pressure, approachable. You lead by example, roll your sleeves up and follow through. You know why and make sure the team do too

WHAT WE CAN OFFER

• A senior seat in a fast-growing independent brand, with real influence on where product goes next but also impacting a whole brand functionality (it's a big deal this one)
• Salary £60-70k depending on experience
• Based at Claude HQ in Mountsorrel
• 33 days annual leave including bank holidays
• 50% off Claude & Co

The Claude Way

We are honest and empathetic. We trust our intuition and each other. We bring courage and authenticity to everything we do with a good dose of fun. We are so ambitious and passionate and always looking for ways to make things better. We stay kind and collaborative. We do not blame. We learn. We care about the details, go the extra mile, and are not afraid to take the road less travelled. We celebrate curiosity, we celebrate team and we know we are building something that is worth its place in the world.

If that sounds like your vibe you will fit right in.

We are going to take our time with this hire, and admit it's one of the most critical we have ever put out there. We hope it was made for you, and can't wait to meet you.

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