Production Manager

Maxima Apparel | Pro Standard Brand About the Role Maxima Apparel is redesigning how we run DTC (direct-to-customer) production. Today, a great deal of our production process lives in one person's head — relayed over chat, tracked in spreadsheets, and held together by manual coordination. It works because talented people work hard. It does not scale. We are hiring a DTC Production Manager to change that. This is not a role that inherits a desk and a to-do list. You will build the management system for DTC production: the calendars, the material readiness plans, the WIP tracking, the dashboards, the SOPs, and the escalation paths that let this business grow without depending on any single individual. This is a production role at its core. You will own manufacturing readiness and execution from the moment a production order is released through completion — the stretch of the order lifecycle that is currently the least documented and the highest-leverage to fix. If you like turning ambiguity into repeatable process, and you want your fingerprints on how a growing apparel business operates, this is that job. What You'll Own Build the production management system Production calendar. Establish and maintain a master production calendar tied to launch dates, assortment plans, and channel-specific timelines. Material readiness planning. Monitor and plan the materials required for production — moving the business from reactive procurement to planned availability against forecast. WIP tracking. Create clear visibility into work-in-process at every stage Capacity monitoring. Track and forecast production capacity across internal and partner facilities; flag constraints before they become missed dates. PLM and ERP as the system of record. Own the accuracy and timeliness of production data in PLM and ERP — styles, BOMs, production orders, materials, and receipts — so that every calendar, dashboard, and report downstream is built on trustworthy data. SOPs and escalation paths. Document current-state workflows, write the standard operating procedures that replace tribal knowledge, and define who decides what — and who gets called when something breaks. Deliver reporting people actually use Design and maintain production dashboards that give leadership and cross-functional partners a single source of truth on readiness and execution. Build exception reporting that surfaces at-risk orders, material shortfalls, and capacity conflicts early enough to act on them. Replace fragile manual processes — stacked VLOOKUPs, one-off spreadsheets, ad hoc pulls — with automated, repeatable reporting. Define and report the KPIs below, and hold the organization to them. Run execution across multiple channels Manage production execution across our DTC business channels, recognizing that each channel carries its own workflow, planning cadence, and service expectations. Support a fast-paced, short-lead-time fulfillment model where speed to the customer is a competitive advantage — without sacrificing quality or cost. Partner daily with Operations on order flow hand-offs, with Logistics on inbound and outbound timing, and with Planning on forecast and assortment inputs. Manage communication and follow-through with overseas manufacturing and sourcing partners across time zones. Close the knowledge gap Participate in structured knowledge-transfer sessions with the current process owner and convert what you learn into documentation, not memory. Take assortment plans and launch calendars from Planning and Merchandising and translate them into executable production plans — materials, capacity, and dates. Identify the ownership gray areas in the current process and propose clear accountability for each. How Success Is Measured You will be accountable for two groups of KPIs. Where these measures do not yet exist, defining and instrumenting them is part of the job. Operational readiness Material availability against plan PLM and ERP data accuracy and timeliness Inventory readiness ahead of launch Production readiness at order release Operational execution Production throughput Turnaround time against target lead times Capacity utilization On-time completion What You Bring Required 5+ years of hands-on apparel production experience — running production orders through manufacturing to completion. This is a production role, not a planning or order operations role, and production experience is not substitutable. Deep working knowledge of the apparel production process: tech packs and BOMs, sample and approval stages, trims and materials, decoration and finishing, quality standards, production calendars, and the milestones an order has to clear before it ships. Proven ability to manage China office partners: holding dates, chasing approvals, resolving production issues, and communicating clearly across time zones. Demonstrated track record of building process where none existed — writing SOPs, standing up production calendars, defining KPIs, creating reporting from scratch. Advanced Excel, plus hands-on experience building reporting or dashboards in a BI tool (Power BI, Tableau, or similar). Clear, direct written communication — the kind that makes documentation worth reading. Preferred Experience in licensed or sports apparel, including seasonal and event-driven production (league launches, team activations, drops). Production experience supporting e-commerce or DTC in a fast-paced, short-lead-time environment. Experience implementing, migrating, or cleaning up a PLM or ERP system. Comfort with SQL, Power Query, or scripting to automate recurring reporting. Who You Are You are energized, not discouraged, by an undefined process — you see the open space as the opportunity. You ask "how do we know that?" and then go build the report that answers it. You are comfortable holding partners accountable to dates and standards while keeping the relationship intact. You prefer a documented system that outlasts you to being the person everyone has to ask. Why Maxima We are at the point in our growth where the way we work has to catch up with how fast we are moving. Leadership is actively investing in structure and in the tools to support it. This role sits at the center of that investment, with executive visibility and the mandate to build something that lasts. Maxima Apparel is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.