Sr. Manager, Product Development and Production - Men's

About the Company:

Founded in 2014, Rhone is a performance lifestyle brand dedicated to championing mental fitness. Engineered for optimal style, comfort, and performance, our clothing is designed to enhance every aspect of the active individual's life. Led by brothers Nate & Ben Checketts, Rhone is fueled by a clear vision: positively impacting lives through a commitment to physical and mental fitness, inspiring community, and crafting performance-driven products. Rhone's purpose is straightforward yet impactful: to inspire those who challenge themselves in their relentless pursuit of progress. In addition to a robust E-commerce business and a strong wholesale presence, Rhone currently has 15 retail stores across the U.S., all of which are used for building community through various initiatives such as the brand's signature Mind & Muscle events. More information can be found at www.rhone.com

About the role:

Rhone views product innovation and its continuous evolution as key to our success- supporting our mission to inspire and outfit our customers to pursue a healthy and active lifestyle, as well as support rapid YOY growth.

Building on the foundation established to date, the Sr. Manager, Product Development and Production - Men's, will lead an expanding team as the company grows, employing a “what don’t we know” mindset, following the product on every step of the journey. They are responsible for executing the monthly deliveries of innovative products appropriate for the Rhone customer, while adhering to quality and production standards as well as brand positioning guidelines across all categories for apparel, accessories and special projects.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Product Development and Production, the Sr. Manager, Product Development and Production - Men’s will work hand in hand with the senior leaders as well as cross functionally with Merchandising & Design partners and the Product Development & Production Team to deliver on the apparel product design strategic vision and tactical execution, with the ultimate goal: to create best in class product with thoughtful features and benefits that are unique to Rhone. We are looking for a tenacious, detail oriented and passionate talent to join our fast growing premium lifestyle brand’s dynamic growth focused team as a leader in the development of innovative products.

What you’ll do:

• Conduct seasonal market research, bringing innovation in fabric and construction as well as evolving best practices to the table
• Attend Design Handoff meetings with Designers and Technical Designers to determine prototype needs, review and ensure that all tech packs are complete with all inform ation needed for sample development
• Conduct predictive costing exercises to ensure products are designed within cost engineering guidelines and help to find alternative material options as necessary to meet targets
• Work with the Senior Director of PD and Production to determine pre-allocation and final sourcing
• Reserve and track Proto/SMS yardage, handlooms, knit downs, lab dips, strike-offs and communicate the comments to Suppliers
• Execute the request and tracking of product samples including prototypes, and SMS
• Work with design and Suppliers to create mockups and prototypes to explore, resolve, or prove new concepts, construction techniques and product features
• Manages the product costing lifecycle, providing solutions throughout the development process, from costing negotiation to confirmation, ensuring that IMU targets are achieved or exceeded
• Develop styles within timelines and guidelines set out by GTM calendar and product briefs
• Monitor key calendar deadlines to ensure timeliness of deliverables are met and troubleshoot all problems/issues that arise
• Drive communication of all style development and production information to the appropriate supplier with daily correspondence with Suppliers
• Attend weekly garment fittings and communicate any changes as needed to Suppliers and cross functional teams
• Work closely with Suppliers to conduct in-development testing, escalating any risks during the design and development phases and providing alternatives to help reduce concerns
• Resolve quality concerns that arise during development and production phase in both fabrics and garments, working with counterparts to ensure bulk product is up to Rhone’s quality standards
• Manage the materials library and new material development process
• Manage seasonal T&A calendars and commit date dates to ensure commitments and Purchase Orders are placed on time
• Manage the WIP charts to ensure integrity of all product and delivery information. Including reconciliation of data in the ERP system
• Manage weekly WIP reviews and track production progress, escalating production issues as needed to the cross functional teams
• Actively seek lead time improvements with Suppliers for quickest delivery to market, challenging the status quo
• Request, manage and approve production product and fabric testing through to execution of final PO’s
• Work closely with the QC team to approve inspection reports prior to PO shipments, ensuring compliance to company QA standards
• Additional tasks and responsibilities as required
• AM/PM Supplier calls outside of normal business hours
• Domestic and international travel as required, including product quality checks to the Distribution Center if needed.
  
  

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree preferred
• 8+ years of product development experience
• Experience traveling and visiting international factories required
• Advanced knowledge of fabrics and trims associated with the development process
• Strong understanding of fabric and production standards, costing and cost negotiation, trade regulations, product integrity, testing protocol, production cycle timeline, fabric and garment construction
• Computer proficiency with MS Office Suite, including heavy Excel use, and Google applications
• Superior interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Strong organizational skills with a sense of priority for deadlines and attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to multitask and meet deadlines
• Strong analytical mindset
• Positive, optimistic and open-minded approach
  
  

What you’ll get:

• Access to benefits, including medical, dental, vision, & commuter benefits
• 401K
• Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Time Off
• Generous Holiday Schedule
• Flexible schedule and work-from-home days
• Company incentive plan
• Parental Leave
• Generous employee discount plus allotments
  
  

Job Type: Full Time - 4 days in office

Reports to: Senior Director, Product Development and Production

Location: Rhone HQ, Stamford, CT