Private Brands Material Manager

Summary

Join Stitch Fix, a leading online personal styling service, as a Private Brands Material Manager. This role involves leading the material sourcing, development, and in-season materials platforming strategy for the company's in-house brands. You will work with cross-functional teams to inform sourcing strategies, build strategic vendor partnerships, and manage materials sourcing and development processes. Additionally, you will be responsible for building and implementing a Material Platform Strategy to support in-season flexibility and manage key material lead times. This position requires a highly experienced and visionary individual with a strong understanding of materials, product development, and production management.

Requirements

• You have 7+ years of experience in material R&D, product development and/or production management
• You have strong industry relationships with factories and mills
• You are able to travel ~10% domestic and international
• You are proficient in Google Workspace and Slack

Responsibilities

• Work with cross functional teams to inform the sourcing strategy with Vendor Insights on product acumen to achieve the highest quality and margin with optimal lead times
• Facilitate strategic vendor partnerships that enable mutually beneficial results, while continuing to strive for improvements to cost, speed to market, innovation and flexibility
• Travel domestically and internationally to proactively source materials, giving and receiving feedback and encouraging strategic product opportunities
• Work closely with Brand Management to strategically map materials by Brand aesthetic and end-use, identifying opportunities to consolidate for more supply chain efficiency and bringing whitespace opportunities in new materials
• Stay in-sync with Trend, always keeping a pulse on “what’s coming next” and the macro materials market
• Manage materials sourcing and development process direct with Vendor partners, negotiating strategic costs, minimums, and lead times
• Influence and collaborate with Buying to select strategic, quality materials that drive value to our business and clients seasonally
• Proactively communicate with Technical Design on material specifications that may impact best-in-class fit
• Partner with Quality on material testing troubleshooting as needed, with specific focus on special claims
• Work with Brand Management & Creative teams to land marketable material names & romance copy with extra focus on managing special claims
• Leverage data and Merchant insights to continue enhancing the development and creation of products
• Build and implement Material Platform Strategy to support in-season flexibility for chase and shifts
• Regularly communicate with the cross-functional team to proactively identify opportunities to platform fabrics across the various categories
• Manage key material lead times, negotiating with Vendors as needed to maintain maximum flexibility
• Manage monthly trigger calendars in conjunction with Open-To-Buy cadence
• Communicate closely with Buying and Vendors to manage available stock and liability mitigation as needed
• Keep Finance informed of material liabilities and ownership

Preferred Qualifications

• You are the materials expert. You share your knowledge, elevate the Merch product acumen, and lead with your expertise
• You are client-obsessed. You are able to pull-out of the technical weeds to adopt a client-first POV as a decision-making factor
• You are passionate about product and problem-solving, and don’t hesitate to flex up and down within your role to support the needs of the team
• You are skilled in project management and operational efficiency. You can get what needs to be done completed and can re-prioritize effectively with excellent multi-tasking skills
• You can drive strategic initiatives and evolve ways of working by building on industry experience and best practices blended with innovation and technology
• You are resourceful with the ability to leverage existing tools or seek out new options as needed
• You are a skilled negotiator and obsessed with winning partnerships that give us the best price/value with our clients and vendors
• You are skilled at risk-management and able to think through short and long term effects with risk-mitigation tactics in your back pocket
• You excel at working through ambiguity, complex problems and nuanced approaches to solutions
• You are a natural at partnership management and can identify and create valuable partnerships with new and existing vendors
• You are an influential communicator and can effectively communicate and manage expectations with cross-functional teams

Benefits

• We offer comprehensive compensation packages and inclusive health and wellness benefits
• This role will receive a competitive salary, benefits, and equity
• The salary for US-based employees hired into this role will be aligned with the range below, which includes our three geographic areas
• A variety of factors are considered when determining someone’s compensation–including a candidate’s professional background, experience, location, and performance
• This position is eligible for new hire and ongoing grants of restricted stock units depending on employee and company performance
• In addition, the position is eligible for medical, dental, vision, and other benefits