Manager, Product Development

Centric Brands Inc. • New York, NY

37d • $70,000 - $75,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Centric Brands is a leading lifestyle brand collective that designs, sources, markets and sells high quality products in multiple segments, including women's, men's and kid's apparel, accessories, entertainment and beauty. Centric Brands is focused on our customers and our brands that will drive the company's future growth. We are defined by innovation as we seize new opportunities and thrive in an environment informed by creativity and thinking that is both analytical and outside the box. Centric Brands reflects a team built on respect, for others and for the hard work it takes to achieve our goals and build our bright future together. The Product Development Manager supports seasonal product needs by collaborating with a cross-functional team, including Production, Design, Sales, and Overseas offices, to develop and execute assigned product lines, with a primary focus on apparel development and secondary on trim and packaging for sports, entertainment and culture brands such as Game 7, Contenders and the like.

Requirements

• Comprehensive understanding of the entire Product Development cycle, including fabric technology, color science, art applications, and garment construction.
• Working knowledge of garment construction techniques, including sewing methods and seam classifications.
• Strong understanding of materials such as woven labels, paper finishes and weights, elastics, metal trims, and various button qualities.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills are required to collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to multi-task and meet deadlines with a high level of detail orientation and accuracy.
• Proficient in FlexPLM, Microsoft Office; knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is a plus.
• Superior organizational and communication skills; team-oriented.
• Adaptable and flexible
• Bachelor's degree, preferably in Product Development.
• 3-5 years of product development or relevant experience.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Design, Production, and Technical Design to ensure all deadlines are met while communicating status updates to all other departments. Establish an efficient and transparent process to maintain a consistent flow of approvals.
• Participate in style-by-style milestone meetings with cross-functional teams to understand customer and brand visions, facilitating the creation of tech packs and initiating design operations.
• Work directly with overseas vendors to review and approve product development submissions, including proto-samples, lab dips, strike-offs, sales samples, and pre-production samples, ensuring brand quality and integrity are maintained.
• Evaluate lab dips with a strong understanding of color science to ensure color accuracy across products.
• Utilize extensive knowledge of woven and knit fabrics, direct/fabric print techniques, and garment construction across multiple categories.
• Evaluate initial tech packs through PLM while simultaneously creating comment logs and reviewing samples to ensure all details are executable by the factories.
• Schedule proto review meetings with the Design team to ensure garment constructions, design details, and art placement from tech pack align with the designer's vision.
• Collaborate with Design, Production, and Sales teams to ensure development stays on schedule per the design calendar, continually monitoring deadlines and communicating status to all departments.
• Understand and review trims, labels, and packaging, including but not limited to woven labels, satin labels, damask labels, buttons, elastic labels, metal trims (such as snaps and shanks), and stickers.
• Provide detailed feedback to nominated suppliers to ensure consistency and quality across products while adhering to packaging and labeling requirements.
• Communicate with licensors as needed to ensure compliance with brand guidelines and approvals.
• Catalog and maintain standard libraries of fabrics, prints, trims, packaging, and labels for future reference, ensuring easy access for the team.
• Participate in cross-functional meetings to align packaging and trim strategies with overall product development initiatives.

Benefits

• In return, we provide an industry-competitive salary, along with a comprehensive benefits plan (medical, dental, vision) that includes a matching 401(k), Summer Fridays, generous PTO, merchandise discounts, excellent career development opportunities, and a work environment that reflects our industry leadership.
• Our social impact program, Centric Cares, focuses on volunteerism to make a difference in communities we live and work in and our D&I committee is shaping the future of diversity, equity and inclusion at Centric Brands though workshops, resources and inspiring conversation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Industry: Apparel Manufacturing
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees