Sourcing and Production Manager

TALA a digitalfirst sustainably made womens activewear company has been on a rocket ship since its founding in 2019 by Fitness Entrepreneur Grace Beverley. Scaled on amazing organic social traction weve matured into a business with a multifaceted performance marketing strategy across multiple channels. Off the back of our success weve raised funds with world class venture capital and are in a period of extraordinary growth.
This full time role is the perfect opportunity for a Sourcing Manager experienced in performance fabrics knitwear and beyond to make their mark within a fastpaced scaling business. In this role you will lead TALA Sourcing & Production working across all product categories developing our Supply Base in line with our Strategy

Tasks

Day to day you will:

• Continuously review current supplier base taking a strategic and practical eye to areas for improvement
• Future proof the supplier base for scale
• Guard the quality and timeliness of production
• Work across the full life cycle of the seasonal critical path first planning production then supporting on sample reviews and approvals and through to the management of bulk and in warehouse QC
• Anticipate and supports expansion into new product areas at both long and short horizons
• Continuously optimise for product costs through increasing degrees of sophistication from cross costing to scale open costing pattern optimization and beyond
• Maintain a supplier base which Is consistent with our commitment to ESG across the supply chain and organisation including up to date audits certifications inspections
• Support the operations supply chain with production of packaging tags etc consistent with our standards
• Take ownership of finding new suppliers for both the core business and new product areas
• Manage the onboarding process of new suppliers in line with TALA manual
• With Garment Tech ensure materials are suitable for their end use through wearer trials reviewing the fabric specifications and approving the test reports
• Build strong relationships across the supply base. Including through factory visits

Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years Sourcing experience preferably within Activewear or other performance categories
• Demonstrable experience managing an evolving and optimising supplier base whilst a company scales
• A track record of production excellence in timeliness quality esg standards and costs
• Ideally have experience / knowledge with Seamless Product
• Knowledge of working with environmentally conscious materials and production standards
• An in depth understanding of yarns and fabric types and their properties
• Be comfortable working in a startup environment: working lean and quickly being hands on and willing to get your hands dirty working well both autonomously and collaboratively
• Be able to work in our office in London a minimum of 3 days per week

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package
• Fun startup working culture
• A sense of mission and contribution to the greater good
• Flexible working environment
• Mondays and Fridays usually remote Tues Thurs at our Vauxhall office
• Half day Fridays (most of the time)
• 25 days AL
• Clothing allowance and discount on the best athleisure in the game
• Beautiful and bright offices in a historic building in central London (near Vauxhall) with other startups on site