Production Director

The Opportunity Crye is growing fast. We're looking for a Production Director who owns the outcome end to end: internal lines, subcontractors, raw materials and suppliers, domestic and international. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who is fair yet relentless: who builds real relationships with mills and contractors, then holds them to their commitments on timing, quality and price. You'll make decisions based on the numbers, not anecdotes; build processes that endure; spot risks long before they become late orders; and put modern tools, including AI, to work every day. You’ll push our production capacity up, and our costs and leadtimes down. If you believe the people who wear our gear deserve on-time, top-notch product, you're likely a good candidate. Job Responsibilities Owning on-time, right-first-time delivery across internal lines, subcontractors and international partners, along with capacity, yield, labor and cost Leading the full production organization (production management, planning, purchasing and raw materials) with clear roles, KPIs and accountability Running a disciplined capacity and production planning process in NetSuite: realistic ATP/ship dates, DPAS-rated order priority, early escalation Building and managing a global supplier and subcontractor base: sourcing at trade shows and mill visits, negotiating price, terms and lead times Holding suppliers accountable with scorecards, NCMRs, chargebacks and corrective action; enforcing specs, test reports and CoCs at the source Seeing risk early (single sources, long-lead fabrics, Berry/DFARS, tariffs, capacity crunches) and putting mitigation in place before it hits Partnering with Quality, Manufacturing Engineering and Product Development to launch new products into full-rate production Supporting our growing international operations: qualifying and managing foreign suppliers and partner factories for allied programs Replacing spreadsheets and email chains with systems, dashboards, automation and AI-enabled tools; driving continuous improvement Reporting weekly on OTD, WIP, capacity, supplier performance, inventory and cost vs. plan, never shying away from the bad news Required Experience & Qualifications 10+ years of textile/apparel production or sourcing leadership; sewn products required, military/tactical or technical apparel strongly preferred Proven record negotiating with and managing domestic and overseas mills, trim suppliers and CMT subcontractors, with results to show Real technical depth in fabrics, construction, testing and specs: able to challenge a supplier's data, not just accept it Data-driven and process-oriented; advanced ERP (NetSuite preferred) and Excel/BI; builds the dashboards and SOPs rather than waiting for them Enthusiastic daily user of AI and automation tools; quick to adopt new technology Working knowledge of Berry Amendment, DPAS-rated orders, ISO 9001 and government contracting preferred Direct, candid communicator who surfaces problems early; travel ~10-15% (trade shows, suppliers, international) Must be a U.S. citizen