Product Development Manager
CurrentDepartment lead and oversight on all projects for cut and sew apparel and custom hard good products- Manage all custom apparel projects end-to-end providing oversight of quotation, sampling, bulk production and final shipment- Collaborate closely with sales team in guiding customer decisions toward the best products- Interact directly with company’s largest clients acting as a liaison between different departments and production facilities to ensure exceptional client experience- Work with confidential brand name IP projects navigating all needs associated with licensing and required authorizations- Seek out and develop working relationship with new factories, vendors, suppliers based on project needs- Arrange product testing as needed via Intertek and/or overseas test facilities to ensure all products are safe and free of liability- Oversaw the transition of suppliers resulting in reduction in product costs, increases in profitability, and improvement in reliability- Oversaw development of various apparel offerings for clients new to cut and sew apparel, increasing their product range to include more customizable garments, bags, and exercise wear- Created, updated, and maintained over 100 new product web pages- Maintain average 36% profit margin over 3 years (over company target of 30%)- Conduct yearly audit of pricing to account for market changes- Created SOPs for processes for sourcing domestic and overseas products, shipping procedures and best practices- Set up interviews, hired, trained, and established a custom product team, none of whom had prior experience in ASI sourcing, cut and sew, or custom products
