Director of Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Build the operations behind the next generation of collectibles.

Pulse Trading Cards is hiring a hands-on Director of Operations to own the execution of our product pipeline from production planning through final delivery.

You will be responsible for making sure every product moves through the process on time, to specification, and at the planned margin . This includes coordinating manufacturing, autograph operations, quality control, logistics, inventory, retail requirements, and product launches.

This is a highly cross-functional role for someone who is comfortable getting into the details, building processes from scratch, solving problems with vendors, and holding multiple teams and partners accountable.

You’ll report to the COO and work closely with Athlete Relations, Creative, Licensing, Sales, project managers, and our internal development team.

About Pulse

Since launching in late 2023, Pulse has expanded across baseball, football, and basketball with products including Aura, Foundry, Meridian, Stratos, and Big League Chew . Our business serves hobby distributors, specialty shops, mass-market retailers, and collectors directly.

This is an opportunity to help build the processes, systems, and team that will support Pulse through its next stage of growth.

What You’ll Own

Production Planning & Execution

• Own the operational lifecycle of each product from production kickoff through final delivery.
• Build and maintain detailed production plans, timelines, and critical paths.
• Coordinate artwork, approvals, manufacturing, autograph returns, quality control, packaging, and shipping.
• Identify risks and bottlenecks early and drive them to resolution.
• Maintain reliable production timelines and communicate changes to Sales and leadership.
• Hold internal teams, vendors, and manufacturing partners accountable to agreed timelines and specifications.

Manufacturing & Quality

• Manage domestic and overseas printing and manufacturing partners.
• Coordinate production specifications, quantities, timelines, and packaging requirements.
• Negotiate manufacturing costs and manage vendor performance.
• Oversee specialty finishes, materials, packaging, and other production requirements.
• Establish and enforce quality standards and inspection procedures.
• Ensure collation, pack-out, hit rates, card counts, and product configurations match approved specifications.
• Manage production samples, proofs, inspections, and final approvals.

Retail, Distribution & Logistics

• Oversee fulfillment for major retailers, club accounts, hobby distributors, and specialty shops.
• Coordinate retailer-specific routing guides, EDI requirements, advance shipping notices, labeling, palletization, and delivery windows.
• Ensure products are shipped accurately and in compliance with customer requirements.
• Work proactively to prevent avoidable chargebacks, compliance issues, and delivery failures.
• Manage logistics partners and resolve shipping and receiving issues.

Release Planning

• Build and maintain a single operating calendar across all active products.
• Coordinate critical milestones across Creative, Licensing, Athlete Relations, Manufacturing, Sales, and Logistics.
• Establish clear dependencies and deadlines for each product.
• Identify schedule risks early and develop contingency plans.
• Provide leadership and Sales with reliable, data-driven delivery commitments.

Licensed Products

• Coordinate licensor submissions, approvals, and production requirements.
• Track royalty obligations and minimum guarantees.
• Maintain accurate records of licensed product commitments.
• Coordinate applicable product safety, compliance, and testing requirements.
• Ensure licensed products meet all contractual and operational requirements before release.

Cost, Inventory & Systems

• Own landed cost and COGS tracking by SKU.
• Monitor production costs against budget and identify opportunities to improve margins.
• Maintain accurate inventory records across cards, packaging, autographs, and finished goods.
• Improve inventory forecasting and production planning.
• Work with our development team to improve ERP workflows, purchase orders, bills of materials, inventory tracking, and operational reporting.
• Build systems that provide leadership with a clear view of product status, inventory, costs, and upcoming production requirements.

Team & Launch Execution

• Build and lead a lean, high-accountability operations team.
• Establish clear ownership, processes, KPIs, and accountability across the operations function.
• Develop repeatable SOPs that allow Pulse to scale its product volume without sacrificing quality or timelines.
• Coordinate operational requirements for major product launches, trade shows, retailer meetings, and other company events.
• Continuously identify opportunities to make Pulse's production and fulfillment processes faster, more reliable, and more scalable.

Requirements

• 5–10+ years of experience in operations, supply chain, manufacturing, consumer products, collectibles, or a related field.

• Experience managing physical products from production through delivery.
• Strong project management skills and an ability to manage multiple concurrent product launches.
• Experience working with domestic and international manufacturers and vendors.
• Strong attention to detail and comfort working with large amounts of product, inventory, and production data.
• Experience with ERP, inventory management, purchasing, or similar operational systems.
• Strong negotiating and vendor-management skills.
• Ability to identify problems before they become emergencies and drive solutions independently.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment where processes are still being built.
• Willingness to get into the details. This is not a role where you simply manage from a spreadsheet — you will be expected to pick up the phone, chase a shipment, inspect product, solve a manufacturing issue, and get things across the finish line.

Nice to Have

• Experience in trading cards, collectibles, toys, apparel, consumer products, or another highly SKU-driven business.
• Experience with autographed products or other high-value inventory.
• Experience working with mass-market retailers and their operational requirements.
• Experience with overseas manufacturing, particularly in Asia.
• Familiarity with EDI, retailer routing guides, and chargeback processes.
• Experience working with licensed intellectual property and licensors.
• Experience implementing or improving ERP and operational systems.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision insurance.
• Flexible paid time off and floating holiday policies
• Direct access to the CEO and COO, with meaningful influence over operational decisions.
• Opportunity to build and lead the operations function across sports trading cards and new licensed product categories.