Product Manager in Coventry

We are looking for a Product Manager to lead the Technical & QA team and Sales Support Merchandisers which consists of Garment and Accessory Technicians and Merchandisers. The Product Manager will lead the Technical & QA making sure the Tech packs are set up correctly according to customer needs and uploaded to the company’s PLM system, work with Customers, Licensors to support their fitting, testing and quality requirements, work with the Sourcing country offices to manage the sample development, product fitting, testing and quality assurance processes, work closely with Costing, Design to guide designing into cost and feasible, safe products.

Responsibilities:

• Style handover upon order confirmation, ensure information is gathered & passed from & to the relevant departments.
• Work closely with the Sourcing Country teams to ensure orders are clearly interpreted and executed, using video conference/email/telephone communications and feedback any issues to their line manager.
• Critical Path management – ensuring that the Technical QA team and Merch team are collaborating, and joint weekly updates take place on all stages of development and Critical Path management per customer.
• Compile and maintain documents for any liabilities, debits etc. passed back to the factory or supplier, reviewed regularly until all issues are closed, or liabilities used.
• All internal documentation, customer ways of working to be kept up to date.
• General filing/admin upkeep to be maintained.
• Review and implement lean and efficient ways of working between front end teams and sourcing country teams.
• Implementation of new systems in line with the company requirements.
• Ensure compliance with Textile Exchange standards (GRS, RCS, OCS, CCS, GOTS, Better Cotton) by managing chain of custody documentation, coordinating supplier certification, and maintaining product integrity and traceability throughout the supply chain.
• Undertake Tech Pack Creation as well as overseeing those created in team for use in costing and production.
• Support Purchasing team with technical suggestions with the aim to drive costs down through components whilst maintaining quality.
• Build a relationship with Sourcing country teams, factories & suppliers.
• Action and develop buying samples.
• Identify factory’s strengths and weaknesses, work closely with the Purchasing and Compliance team to guide order placing process.
• Provide information on factory capabilities to Design.
• Manage weekly meetings with Sourcing Country teams.
• Visit Sourcing Country offices and suppliers as and when required.
• Work closely with Design and Sales on new developments and find techniques which work into cost requirements.
• Oversee and manage the team of Technologists and Sales Support Merchandisers on:
• Ensure that comprehensive detailing of information of each style is received to allow styles to be accurately costed.
• Working with the Purchasing and Logistics to monitor and track all costs occurring during order cycle and using this information to ensure all costs are covered on future orders.
• Working closely with the Sales to support existing accounts and onboard new customers.
• Managing the open order book and monitoring delivery performance against KPIs, including OTIF.
• Driving commercial focus and identifying opportunities to improve margin and repeat business.
• Building strong working relationships across departments and with key stakeholders managing escalations, resolving issues and driving continuous improvement.
• Supporting strategic planning and contributing to future business goals.

Skills:

• Experienced team leader within Merchandising, Technical and/or Supply Chain environment.
• Experience working with offshore support functions.
• Experience in the licensed garment / accessories industry.
• Have EU and UK based customer support experience.
• Comfortable working in a KPI-driven, fast-paced environment.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Highly organised.
• Process driven.
• Commercial.
• Ability to work under pressure and cope with tight deadlines.
• Attention to detail.
• Proactive, positive, solution driven.
• Confident using Microsoft Office, customer portals and PLM, ERP systems.
• Motivated to develop people, improve processes and drive results.