Vice President, Supply Chain | OluKai, melin & Roark (Tradewind Services)

Archipelago Companies•Irvine, CA

28d•$200,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Tradewind Services (TWS), the operational backbone for OluKai, melin, Roark, and Amble, is bringing supply chain activities together into one shared function. The Vice President, Supply Chain will build and lead Planning and Procurement as a standardized service across all four brands, with responsibility spanning demand, supply, and buy planning; vendor sourcing and contracting; inbound logistics; inventory risk; systems; reporting; and team development. This is a hands-on leadership role, expected to involve personally managing planning and buy decisions for approximately the first two to three quarters while the team is staffed. The role then transitions toward leading the function, while retaining final sign-off on major buy commitments, vendor contracts, and inventory-risk decisions. Reporting directly to the President, the VP will partner with Production, Operations, Finance, and brand leadership. The role owns the supply chain roadmap, planning methodology, monthly S&OP cadence, buy governance, supplier performance, inbound freight and customs, and the planning function’s systems and reporting. It includes direct operating-budget and P&L accountability for inbound freight/3PL costs tied to procurement, planning systems and tooling, and Planning, Procurement, and Inbound Logistics headcount. Outbound logistics, 3PL, warehousing, and distribution remain within the operating boundary of the VP of Operations. The role has a particular mandate to embed AI and automation into planning and procurement workflows. The VP will select and implement a demand and buy planning platform, build real-time reporting and dashboards, and partner with TWS Data & AI and IT to integrate systems with the shared data platform. AI applications may include forecasting, buy recommendations, exception flagging, vendor analysis, inventory alerts, and forecast-variance detection. Success is measured by reduced manual reporting and faster decisions, as well as results such as inventory turns, on-time delivery, and working capital. The position is an in-office hybrid role in Irvine, California, requiring a minimum of four days per week in the office. The company states this requirement may change without notice under company guidelines. Compensation is $200,000–$250,000 plus the opportunity for an annual bonus. Systems identified include Full Circle as the ERP/source system and Snowflake and HEX as the data and reporting platform; the demand and buy planning platform is to be selected. Standard TWS tools are used for version control and collaboration.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in supply chain, demand planning, or procurement leadership.
At least 3 years of team-management experience.
Deep expertise in demand and buy planning for apparel, footwear, or consumer product brands with wholesale and DTC distribution.
Vendor sourcing and contract negotiation experience across multiple factories and regions.
Demonstrated ownership of inventory risk, rather than only producing forecasts for others to act on.
Experience selecting or implementing a demand-planning or buying system.
Direct, hands-on experience using AI or automation to reduce manual work in planning or reporting.
Excellent communication skills, including presenting to senior leadership and influencing cross-functional stakeholders.
Experience with buy governance, vendor performance, and inventory controls in a multi-brand or multi-business-unit environment.
Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience; the posting also describes a bachelor’s degree as preferred.
Trade compliance and customs expertise, including import/export regulations, HTS classification, tariff exposure, and duty mitigation for a multi-brand apparel/footwear business sourcing from overseas factories.
Working knowledge of quantitative forecasting methods such as statistical/time-series modeling or demand sensing.
Hands-on comfort with SQL and BI/reporting tools.
Track record leading organizational or process transformation and building a function from scratch.
Demonstrated experience operating at comparable scale, including annual PO/purchase volume, SKU count, vendors/factories managed, and team size at prior companies.

Nice To Haves

Experience with LLMs or AI tools in production, such as Claude/Anthropic API or similar, applied to forecasting, reporting, or vendor analysis.
Background in consumer brands, footwear/apparel, or omni-channel distribution.
Experience with ERP platforms such as Full Circle or NetSuite, or integrated planning modules.
Track record of building a planning/procurement function from early stage to operational maturity.

Responsibilities

Define and own the Planning & Procurement roadmap across all four brands, including systems, tooling, and demand-planning methodology.
Translate brand and business needs into a standardized planning process with clear service levels and measurable outcomes.
Govern buy, vendor, and inventory-risk standards across brands and systems.
Report supply chain performance and KPIs directly to the President.
Build the Planning & Procurement team from the ground up, defining roles, hiring talent, and establishing Planning, Procurement, and Inbound Logistics structures.
Recruit, develop, and retain talent as the function scales, and foster ownership, accountability, and cross-brand partnership.
Own demand, supply, and new product introduction planning execution across OluKai, melin, Roark, and Amble.
Make buy decisions and take direct accountability for associated inventory risk, sell-through, and inventory turns.
Own the monthly S&OP cadence, including one operating forecast, PO releases sequenced to lead time, and a shared scorecard on OTIF, inventory, and cash.
Own vendor sourcing, contract negotiation, and supplier performance across all four brands.
Own inbound logistics, including freight, customs, and receipt timing, and develop supplier-performance and landed-cost discipline.
Select and implement the demand and buy planning system and own its rollout.
Build real-time reporting and dashboards that do not depend on any one person or manual files.
Partner with TWS Data & AI and IT to integrate planning systems with the broader data platform.
Make AI a default part of reporting and decision-making; apply it to demand forecasting, buy recommendations, and exception flagging.
Partner with TWS Data & AI to bring Claude-powered tools, such as automated vendor analysis, inventory alerts, and forecast-variance detection, into planning and procurement workflows.
Measure AI adoption by manual reporting hours eliminated and faster decision-making, and stay current on relevant AI/LLM developments.
Partner with the VP of Production on long-range and capacity forecasting.
Partner with Finance/FP&A on fiscal planning, forecast reconciliation, and budget governance.
Maintain the operating boundary with the VP of Operations, who retains outbound logistics, 3PL, warehousing, and distribution.
Own the operating budget for inbound freight/3PL costs tied to procurement, planning systems and tooling, and Planning/Procurement/Inbound Logistics headcount; exercise spending authority subject to President sign-off thresholds to be determined.
Hold direct P&L accountability for use of the operating budget while partnering with Finance/FP&A on the broader fiscal plan.

Benefits

Complimentary chef-prepared breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday.
Product gift program and discounts across all brands.
Company bonus program and opportunity for an annual bonus.
Five-year and ten-year milestone anniversary travel gifts.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance in accordance with plan guidelines.
Company-paid life insurance in accordance with plan guidelines.
401(k) with employer match in accordance with plan guidelines.
15 days of PTO accrued annually, plus one additional PTO day each anniversary year.
Three floating holidays per year.
Paid beach and giveback days.
Bi-annual team-building events and other in-person celebrations.