Senior Production Manager

As our Senior Production Manager, you will play a critical leadership role in bringing our products to life while driving profitability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

Role Overview

As our Senior Production Manager, you will play a critical leadership role in bringing our products to life while driving profitability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

You will own the production process from design handoff through TOP sample approval, oversee vendor relationships, and take accountability for product costing and gross profit margins. Partnering closely with Design, Technical Design, Merchandising, and Finance, you will balance beautiful product, exceptional quality, competitive costs, and on-time delivery.

We are looking for a strategic thinker who is equally comfortable rolling up their sleeves to solve day-to-day challenges. The ideal candidate is highly analytical, commercially minded, and passionate about improving how teams work. You will also help lead the adoption of AI tools and emerging technologies to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and support smarter decision-making.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who loves great product, thrives on ownership, and is eager to make a meaningful impact on a growing apparel brand.

Core Responsibilities

Production Strategy & Calendar Management

• Own and oversee the production calendar from design handoff through TOP sample approval, ensuring all styles meet critical milestones and delivery deadlines.
• Proactively identify production risks, anticipate potential delays, and develop solutions and recovery plans with vendors and internal teams.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability with vendors to drive consistent execution and on-time performance.
• Review weekly vendor reports, identify trends and bottlenecks, and proactively resolve issues before they impact business objectives.
• Partner cross-functionally to align production timelines with seasonal launches, inventory needs, and overall company priorities.

Product Costing & Gross Profit Margin Ownership

• Own product costing and gross profit margin performance, ensuring products meet established profitability targets without compromising brand quality or design integrity.
• Lead cost negotiations with domestic and overseas vendors to achieve competitive pricing and improve product margins.
• Partner closely with Design, Merchandising, and Finance to establish target costs and evaluate profitability throughout the product development process.
• Identify and execute cost-saving opportunities through fabric sourcing, construction methods, material selection, vendor negotiations, and production efficiencies.
• Analyze product costs, margin performance, and cost variances to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Proactively recommend design, material, or manufacturing adjustments that improve profitability while maintaining the brand's aesthetic and quality standards.
• Provide clear reporting and insights to leadership regarding product costing, margin risks, and opportunities.

Vendor Management & Strategic Partnerships

• Own and strengthen relationships with domestic and overseas manufacturing partners, serving as the primary point of contact for production-related communication.
• Lead negotiations related to costing, timelines, production capacity, sample rounds, and quality resolutions.
• Evaluate vendor performance across cost, quality, delivery, responsiveness, and overall reliability.
• Identify opportunities to improve vendor partnerships, optimize sourcing strategies, and strengthen the company's manufacturing capabilities.
• Hold vendors accountable to established standards while fostering collaborative, solutions-oriented relationships.
• Ensure clear and timely communication of production requirements, approvals, and consolidated vendor comments.

Production Approvals & Quality Management

• Oversee and approve styles for bulk production, including bulk swatches, PP samples, fit samples, and TOP samples, in collaboration with Technical Design.
• Ensure all products meet established standards for construction, fit, fabric, finishing, and overall quality.
• Lead the resolution of production and quality issues, identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions with vendors.
• Partner closely with Design and Technical Design to balance aesthetic expectations with cost, quality, manufacturability, and production timelines.
• Provide thoughtful, design-minded feedback during fittings, sample reviews, and development while respecting the ownership of the Design team.
• Ensure accurate and timely documentation of sample reviews, comments, approvals, and production decisions.
• Maintain a strong understanding of how fabric, trim, construction, fit, and finishing decisions impact product quality, cost, and customer satisfaction.

Process Improvement, Systems & AI Innovation

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across production workflows, product development processes, vendor communication, and internal systems.
• Actively explore and champion the use of AI tools and emerging technologies to improve team efficiency, accuracy, organization, and decision-making.
• Identify practical opportunities to integrate AI into existing workflows, including reporting, data analysis, vendor communication, process documentation, and administrative tasks.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to test, implement, and refine new tools and processes that simplify work and reduce manual effort.
• Encourage a culture of curiosity, innovation, and continuous learning, helping team members feel comfortable adopting new technologies.
• Maintain accurate and organized production records in Airtable and other company systems.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting, visibility, and accountability throughout the product development and production lifecycle.
• Oversee sample organization, fitting documentation, and coordination of photoshoot samples with the Creative team.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Accountability

• Serve as a key production leader and strategic partner to Design, Technical Design, Finance, and company leadership.
• Take ownership of production-related decisions, balancing profitability, quality, timelines, and long-term business needs.
• Communicate proactively with leadership regarding production performance, margin opportunities, operational challenges, and recommended solutions.
• Drive accountability and collaboration across internal teams and external manufacturing partners.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to product margins, production timelines, vendor performance, and quality.
• Support the development of scalable processes and best practices as the company continues to grow.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of apparel product development, sourcing, or production management experience, preferably in women's or kids apparel.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex production processes and overseas manufacturing partners.
• Strong understanding of garment costing, cost negotiations, gross profit margins, and product profitability.
• Proven ability to identify cost-saving opportunities while maintaining product quality and design standards.
• Experience overseeing bulk production approvals, including fabric, PP, and TOP samples.
• Strong technical knowledge of garment construction, fabric, fit, measuring, and quality standards.
• Advanced Excel skills, including the ability to analyze costing, profitability, and production data.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to make sound business decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to negotiate effectively and communicate clearly with vendors and cross-functional teams.
• Highly organized, proactive, and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership, drive improvements, and influence outcomes across teams.
• A genuine enthusiasm for learning and implementing AI tools and new technologies to improve workflows and business processes. Extensive AI experience is not required, but curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to experiment are essential.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Airtable, Asana, Slack, WhatsApp, or similar project management and collaboration tools.
• Adobe Illustrator experience.
• Experience developing or improving production reporting, costing tools, or operational systems.
• Experience introducing new technologies, automation, or process improvements within a team.
• Previous experience mentoring or leading team members.

What Success Looks Like

• Products consistently meet established gross profit margin targets while maintaining Ivy City Co.'s quality and design standards.
• Production timelines are managed proactively, with strong vendor accountability and minimal avoidable delays.
• Cost-saving opportunities are regularly identified and implemented.
• Production processes become more efficient, scalable, and data-driven.
• AI tools and emerging technologies are thoughtfully introduced to reduce manual work and improve team productivity.
• Cross-functional teams have clear visibility into production status, costing, risks, and key decisions.
• Vendor partnerships are strong, collaborative, and consistently deliver quality products on time.

If you love great product, think strategically about profitability, and are excited to explore new ways of working, we would love to hear from you!