Private Brands Material Manager

About the Team

The Private Brands Team is committed to making clientloved private label brands. We are focused on making great style fit & quality affordable through datainformed design bestinclass fit exceptional value and responsibly made principles. This team includes cross functional teams in Brand Management Trend Technical Design Quality and Responsible Sourcing. We own the strategic and operational foundation of our Private Brands business in close partnership with the broader Stitch Fix Merchandising organization.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced and visionary Material Manager to lead the material sourcing development and inseason materials platforming strategy for our inhouse brands. As the Private Brands Material Manager you will have the extraordinary chance to work with all Private Brands functions in addition to our entire Buying team across the family playing a pivotal role in evolving our Product Creation ways of working while elevating our materials to stay trendrelevant qualityfocused and strategicallyplaced for scale.

The ideal candidate will have the unique opportunity to shape their role driving strategic initiatives endtoend influencing our merchandising organization delivering clientright materials across Womens Mens and Kids in knits wovens sweaters across all enduses from career casual social active and lounge. This position requires a quickthinking professional who is productobsessed solutionsminded and ready to roll up their sleeves.

Youre excited about this opportunity because you will

Seasonal Development

• Work with cross functional teams to inform the sourcing strategy with Vendor Insights on product acumen to achieve the highest quality and margin with optimal lead times.
• Facilitate strategic vendor partnerships that enable mutually beneficial results while continuing to strive for improvements to cost speed to market innovation and flexibility.
• Travel domestically and internationally to proactively source materials giving and receiving feedback and encouraging strategic product opportunities.
• Work closely with Brand Management to strategically map materials by Brand aesthetic and enduse identifying opportunities to consolidate for more supply chain efficiency and bringing whitespace opportunities in new materials.
• Stay insync with Trend always keeping a pulse on whats coming next and the macro materials market.
• Manage materials sourcing and development process direct with Vendor partners negotiating strategic costs minimums and lead times.
• Influence and collaborate with Buying to select strategic quality materials that drive value to our business and clients seasonally.
• Proactively communicate with Technical Design on material specifications that may impact bestinclass fit.
• Partner with Quality on material testing troubleshooting as needed with specific focus on special claims.
• Work with Brand Management & Creative teams to land marketable material names & romance copy with extra focus on managing special claims.
• Leverage data and Merchant insights to continue enhancing the development and creation of products.

Material Platform Management

• Build and implement Material Platform Strategy to support inseason flexibility for chase and shifts.
• Regularly communicate with the crossfunctional team to proactively identify opportunities to platform fabrics across the various categories.
• Manage key material lead times negotiating with Vendors as needed to maintain maximum flexibility.
• Manage monthly trigger calendars in conjunction with OpenToBuy cadence.
• Communicate closely with Buying and Vendors to manage available stock and liability mitigation as needed.
• Keep Finance informed of material liabilities and ownership.

Were excited about you because

• You have 7 years of experience in material R&D product development and/or production management.
• You have strong industry relationships with factories and mills.
• You are able to travel 10 domestic and international.
• You are proficient in Google Workspace and Slack.
• You are the materials expert. You share your knowledge elevate the Merch product acumen and lead with your expertise.
• You are clientobsessed. You are able to pullout of the technical weeds to adopt a clientfirst POV as a decisionmaking factor.
• You are passionate about product and problemsolving and dont hesitate to flex up and down within your role to support the needs of the team.
• You are skilled in project management and operational efficiency. You can get what needs to be done completed and can reprioritize effectively with excellent multitasking skills.
• You can drive strategic initiatives and evolve ways of working by building on industry experience and best practices blended with innovation and technology.
• You are resourceful with the ability to leverage existing tools or seek out new options as needed.
• You are a skilled negotiator and obsessed with winning partnerships that give us the best price/value with our clients and vendors.
• You are skilled at riskmanagement and able to think through short and long term effects with riskmitigation tactics in your back pocket.
• You excel at working through ambiguity complex problems and nuanced approaches to solutions.
• You are a natural at partnership management and can identify and create valuable partnerships with new and existing vendors.
• You are an influential communicator and can effectively communicate and manage expectations with crossfunctional teams.

Why youll love working at Stitch Fix...

• We are a group of bright kind people who are motivated by challenge. We value integrity innovation and trust. Youll bring these characteristics to life in everything you do at Stitch Fix.
• We cultivate a community of diverse perspectives all voices are heard and valued.
• We are an innovative company and leverage our strengths in fashion and tech to disrupt the future of retail.
• We win as a team commit to our work and celebrate grit together because we value strong relationships.
• We boldly create the future while keeping equity and sustainability at the center of all that we do.
• We are the owners of our work and are energized by solving problems through a growth mindset lens. We think broadly and creatively through every situation to create meaningful impact.
• We offer comprehensive compensation packages and inclusive health and wellness benefits.