Director of Color

Garan, Incorporated•New York, NY

About The Position

The Director of Color provides strategic and operational leadership for the organization’s color development, color management, and color commercialization activities. The role ensures color consistency from concept through production and excellence in color execution across product categories. The Director oversees the Color team, including talent development, workload management, process adherence, and team performance, and partners with Design, Product Development, Merchandising, Sourcing, Quality, in-country Color teams, and Manufacturing to align color strategies with brand objectives, customer requirements, and business goals. The role also ensures compliance with retailer-specific color standards, approval requirements, and timelines, and oversees color laboratory operations, including equipment calibration, certification, and measurement accuracy. The Director leads seasonal color card and color standard library execution; oversees color approvals from concept through production; communicates color standards, specifications, and testing requirements to suppliers and manufacturing partners; and resolves complex color issues. The role leads continuous improvement in color development, approval, and production processes and manages color laboratory practices and equipment programs to ensure accurate, reliable, and consistent measurement. The Director leads and develops Color team personnel, sets priorities and performance expectations, allocates resources, manages workloads, and recruits and retains talent. The role also maintains relationships with mills, dye houses, printers, manufacturing partners, suppliers, and in-country Color teams; evaluates vendor performance; and promotes consistent execution of color standards across manufacturing locations.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience in color development, color management, textiles, apparel, or consumer soft products.
5+ years of leadership experience managing color teams and cross-functional business initiatives.
Experience working with global sourcing, manufacturing, and supplier networks.
Proven experience managing retailer-specific color requirements and approval processes.

Nice To Haves

Walmart Color experience.

Responsibilities

Lead execution of seasonal color cards and the color standard library across multiple product categories.
Oversee color approval processes from concept through production.
Communicate color standards, specifications, and testing requirements to suppliers and manufacturing partners.
Resolve complex color issues affecting product quality, commercialization timelines, or customer satisfaction.
Drive continuous improvement in color development, approval, and production processes.
Directly oversee the Color team, including Color Managers, Color Specialists, Color Technicians, and other color development personnel.
Establish team priorities, goals, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives.
Coach, mentor, and develop team members and provide career development opportunities.
Allocate resources and manage workloads to meet seasonal development and production deadlines.
Foster collaboration and accountability across cross-functional teams.
Recruit, develop, and retain talent within the Color function.
Ensure color processes, standards, and best practices are consistently followed throughout the organization.
Ensure color development, submission, testing, and approval processes meet retailer-specific requirements and timelines.
Oversee color laboratory operations to ensure accurate, reliable, and consistent color measurement practices.
Manage calibration, certification, maintenance, and validation programs for color laboratory equipment.
Ensure spectrophotometers, light boxes, color assessment tools, and related equipment are maintained and calibrated according to industry standards and manufacturer requirements.
Maintain current certifications and audit readiness for color testing equipment.
Partner with Quality and Technical teams to ensure measurement consistency across internal in-country facilities and external suppliers.
Develop and enforce color measurement protocols that support accurate approvals and production consistency.
Lead implementation and optimization of laboratory best practices.
Communicate color-related priorities, issues, and opportunities to leadership and stakeholders.
Develop and maintain relationships with mills, dye houses, printers, manufacturing partners, and in-country Color teams.
Evaluate vendor color performance and drive continuous improvement.
Ensure color standards are consistently executed across manufacturing locations.
Collaborate with suppliers to resolve color challenges and improve first-pass approval rates.