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Brand Director of Sourcing
Free People
Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Urban Outfitters, Inc. is an innovative specialty retailer which offers a variety of lifestyle merchandise to highly defined customer niches through brands including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN. Urban Outfitters, Inc., is both a Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 ranked company with $3.1 Billion in revenues.
Brand Information
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (www.URBN.com) is an innovative specialty retailer which offers a variety of lifestyle merchandise to highly defined customer niches through brands including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN. Urban Outfitters, Inc., is both a Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 ranked company with $3.1 Billion in revenues.
Founded in 1984, Free People (www.FreePeople.com) is a boutique women’s fashion label that operates ecommerce, retail, and wholesale businesses. Free People is the fastest growing URBN brand and has a vibrant ecommerce platform including web, mobile and a newly released iPhone app. Free People is frequently recognized as an industry leader from a technical, creative and innovative perspective. Free People’s retail business includes over 100 boutique stores and its Wholesale business includes over 1,400 specialty boutiques and department stores across the globe. Free People is an inspiring shopping experience for the stylish, confident, and curious young woman who appreciates our distinctive assortment of apparel and accessories.
Overview
Global brand specific business leader that facilitates and executes Design’s vision through development and management of pre-production time and action and production work-in-process calendars for bought styles trouble shooting any issues such as material, price, and delivery issues while supporting Merchant’s needs and business requirements specific to the brand. Collaborates with the Director of Sourcing Operations, and Product Development Brand Director on sourcing strategy and developmental blueprint. Supervises and promotes the development of subordinates through supervision and training.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT/MANAGEMENT
• Assess and develop staff. Build the appropriate team to ensure effective day to day management of each business group and accurate and readily available records and reports.
• Coach staff to generate creative solutions.
• Ability to lead change, and coach team to respond to a rapidly changing business environment.
• Facilitate corporate initiative of global work shift to support international expansion.
• Coordinate and facilitate team to deliver aesthetically correct samples that meet Design’s vision and the Merchant’s requirements.
• Facilitate team to maintain and manage the pre-production time and action and production work-in-process.
SOURCING STRATEGY
• Manage brand initiatives and goals.
• Create and manage monthly forecast by factory, and annual mill strategy by provided operations calendar deadlines measured by monthly book to date reconciliation.
• Control final allocations.
• Develop and maintain relationships with vendors to ensure successful business partnerships.
• Analyze industry trends to proactively identify supply base issues to reduce cost, minimize risk, protect continuity of supply, and exploit emerging opportunities that benefit the brand.
• Book fabrics and manage deliveries, and liabilities. Reviewed at quarterly mill review.
• Initiate and book early fabric commitments.
DEVELOPMENT BLUEPRINT
• Collaborate between stakeholders to create calendar and meet deadlines as measured by seasonal calendar actualization report.
• Outline and communicate brand and category strategy based on Trend meeting.
• Improve adoption rates over specific time period and hit approved line plan style count measured by seasonal line plan actualization.
PRODUCT FINALIZATION
• Manage commitments and order placements.
WORK IN PROCESS
• Calculate and manage rolling and final IMUs at order placement for variance IMU analysis.
• Strategize brand business opportunities including freight modes for distribution center receipt, flow, and margin opportunity.
• Manage product development and production process for merchant direct product.
• Provide IMU targets and guidance to team to negotiate final costing with vendors ensuring margins are met or exceeded.
Qualifications / Job Skills
• Significant leadership experience managing large teams working in a fast paced environment.
• Experience traveling overseas to evaluate vendors and to determine areas of improvement.
• Supervise subordinates’ responsibilities to ensure accomplishment of department goals and deadlines.
• Promote the development of subordinates through supervision and training.
• Pro-actively approach problem solving.
• Implement operational efficiencies.
• Adapt quickly to changes.
• Driven by deadlines with a high sense of urgency.
Experience
15 plus years of experience managing and leading a production / product development / sourcing team.
Travel
2 – 4 times per year to manufacturing locations.