Associate Manager, Product Development

Job Description

About Kendra Scott
We are a fashion-lifestyle brand of big dreams, colorful confidence, and inspired design. Founded on Family, Fashion and Philanthropy, we believe that our employees and customers are the heart and soul of our brand, and that giving back is the truest form of success. Fashion meets innovation in the design of our two state-of-the-art facilities based in the heart of Austin, Texas, and overflows into the design of our growing retail environment across the country.


Position Overview


We have an exciting and unique career opportunity to be a part of the product team as an Associate Manager of Product Development. The Associate Manager of Product Development is a member of the product team who reports directly to the Manager of Product Development. This is a salaried, exempt position whose primary responsibility is to develop quality products with our factories that meet calendar, cost and design requirements while ensuring technique, functionality and quality are sound for commercialization of the product. Scope includes driving seamless execution of development milestones, oversight on the progression of all sample orders, and effective communication to all teams regarding changes, roadblocks, and wins.

The Associate Manager will ensure accurate and organized flow of communication between Design, Development, Production, and external partners by building and maintaining strong relationships. The Associate Manager will be responsible for ensuring the collaborative efforts between Merchandising, Design & Wholesale teams occur to achieve successful seasonal Market preparation. This role includes leading or partnering on special initiatives, projects, and collaborations. The Associate Manager of Product Development must exhibit high levels of organization, efficiency, collaboration, flexibility, and a can-do attitude. The ability to think full enterprise 360 impact is critical. High quality, accurate deliverables are a must.

Responsibilities:

Calendar & Project Management

• Owns maintaining product development dates within the Product Lifecycle Calendar; Ensure accuracy, update daily with any changes, communicate any risks associated with the shift and issue remediation when off calendar. Supports Product Development Manager or Director in rebuilding any dates from Design Concept to Launch.
• Champion for adherence to all applicable product development dates, and team needs to execute product on time, and per our quality standards.
• Coordinate with Materials & Product Integrity team to ensure material sourcing timelines, product specifications, sample orders, approvals and all steps of development align in total according to established calendar.

Sample Operations

• Build and maintain all sample development information in PLM across all categories.
• Coordinate with Product Development Manager, Sourcing Team and Materials & Product Integrity Team on vendor placement based on development capabilities, sample lead times, and development capacity.
• Oversee tracking of all sample phases and proactively inform internal departments of delays by outlining reasons for the delays and solutions.
• Partner with Product Development Specialist to enforce sample ship dates according to the Product Development calendar and communicate priorities to our vendors. Is solution oriented when requested ship dates cannot be met.
• Reviews, approves, and tracks all sample invoices from the vendors, and works closely with accounting to issue payment in partnership with the Product Development Specialist. Is mindful of total sample budget.
• Coordinate with Product Development Manager or Director on cost presentations to internal cross-functional teams pre-market, and work through any design edits needed to achieve target margins.

Product Commercialization

• Proactively collect and document design or merchandising direction and aesthetic goals to provide clear communication to vendors, track progress, provide feedback, options, and trigger decisions driving development through production.
• Create, maintain, and finalize Style BOMs in PLM with design supplied mockups, and product details to provide comprehensive instructions and specifications to aid factory in development, sampling, and production. Ensure there is communication and documentation of any changes, updates, or elimination of styles to vendors & cross-functional partners.
• Manage development sample communication and tracking with vendors to ensure quality and on time shipments throughout all development sample phases. Ensure all products are vetted for engineering, quality, functionality, and risk.
• Ensure all sample documentation is documented, organized, and easily accessible for team use throughout the PLM system.
• Evaluate development samples and materials for accuracy against product specifications and established standards. Ensure the factories are also documenting sample inspection comments at time of sample shipment. Engage design or merchandising teams with findings to determine, document, and communicate next steps.
• Request and negotiate costs through all development phases and manage up target IMU risks to Product Development Manager or Director for alignment at each stage of development. Ensure Design and Merchandising are aware of any IMU risks and proactively present cost engineering solutions to the team.
• Alert cross functional teams and manage up to Product Development Manager or Director any product risk to eliminate roadblocks and mitigate any risks in production.
• Complete on time product information handoff to Production once an assortment is finalized.

Leadership & Relationship Management

• Build strong cross functional partnerships with Design, Merchandising, Production, Vendors and Agent, and intuitively know when to effectively engage teams to support department needs.
• Provide productive feedback to vendors and agencies when needed, and track downfalls & wins including, but not limited to, lead times and on-time delivery, throughout the quarter to aid in the completion of the partnership survey for the quarterly scorecards.
• Representation of functional area when management is unavailable or traveling.
• Build and execute daily/weekly priorities with consistent delivery and manage up recaps and progress to leadership.
• Directly oversee, manage, and coach the Product Development team Specialist in alignment with Manager or Director, team goals, and individuals' areas of focus.
• Work with teams to outline new vendor onboarding plans to ensure smooth and successful onboarding. Manage up vendor relationship roadblocks to leadership with solutions.

Operational Excellence

• Identify areas of opportunity and align with key cross functional partners on solutions to remove any roadblocks or to improve ways of working.
• Produce seasonal hindsight's, including total styles sampled, style adoption, total team workload and total costs accrued, presenting risks and opportunities, and reporting on the evolution of the season.
• Provide and communicate additional standards documents to vendors to further guide the development process. Ensure all vendors and factories have the most updated accurate information for quality assurance.
• Document and communicate product details needed by cross functional teams to ensure accurate stream of product specifications to the customer. This includes educational content on materials, techniques, aesthetics, or quality.

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Business, Design, Product Development, Fashion Merchandising, or related fields.
• 3-5 years' experience in Product Development for a high-growth company. Jewelry experience is a plus.
• A proven ability to execute with consistent delivery and reprioritize based on evolving business needs.
• Strong multi-tasking skills and ability to react quickly in a fast-paced environment.
• Solution-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving skills.
• Excited by a challenge and can execute projects with limited or no direction.
• Deadline focused, detail-oriented and highly organized; Not fazed by complexity, multiple timelines, and competing priorities.
• Understanding of retail product development, technical design, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience working with domestic and overseas vendors as well as third-party agencies.
• Experience developing, implementing, and communicating new processes and tools.
• A strong ability to build cross functional partnerships and work collaboratively.
• Strong communication skills with a proven ability to build relationships and make effective decisions.
• A growth mindset: desire to learn, grow and embrace new ideas.
• Expertise in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. PLM experience is a plus.
• A shared appreciation for our 3 core values of Family, Fashion and Philanthropy.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company.