Director of Color

Garanorporated•New York, NY

About The Position

The Director of Color provides strategic and operational leadership for color development, color management, and color commercialization across the organization. The role ensures color consistency from concept through production and drives excellence in color execution across product categories. The Director oversees the Color team and is accountable for talent development, workload management, process adherence, and overall team performance. The role 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 Director ensures compliance with retailer-specific color standards, approval requirements, and timelines, and oversees color laboratory operations, including equipment calibration, certification, and measurement accuracy. The position reports to the Vice President Corp. Sustainability and Product Compliance and directly oversees Color Managers, Color Specialists, Color Technicians, Color Laboratory Personnel, and other assigned Color team members.

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.
Ensure color standards, specifications, and testing requirements are clearly communicated 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 and establish priorities, goals, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives.
Coach, mentor, and support career development; allocate resources and manage workloads to meet seasonal development and production deadlines.
Foster collaboration and accountability across cross-functional teams, and recruit, develop, and retain talent within the Color function.
Ensure color processes, standards, best practices, and retailer-specific submission, testing, and approval requirements are followed on schedule.
Oversee color laboratory operations and equipment calibration, certification, maintenance, and validation programs.
Maintain audit readiness and ensure color testing equipment certifications remain current.
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, drive improvement initiatives, and ensure consistent execution of color standards across manufacturing locations.
Collaborate with suppliers to resolve color challenges and improve first-pass approval rates.