Trim Manager, Production
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- New York, NY
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Not specified
- Posted
Must have
- 5-7 years of trim, raw materials, product development, or production experience in apparel, with independent category, supplier, or order-management responsibility.
- Experience managing trim development and bulk production workflows, including costing, lead times, MOQs, approvals, purchase orders, shipments, and receipt reconciliation.
- Strong technical trim knowledge across hardware, buttons, zippers, labels, packaging, grommets, and specialty trims; hardware experience strongly preferred.
- Experience reviewing testing, quality, compliance, shipping, customs, and supplier documentation and resolving discrepancies or production issues.
- Experience in a ready-to-wear environment and with domestic and overseas suppliers is preferred.
- Proven ability to manage multiple overlapping seasons, high order volumes, shifting priorities, and tight production deadlines.
- Proficiency in PLM systems and Excel required; experience with VibeIQ or similar platforms is a plus.
- Strong negotiation, organization, analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills, with proactive follow-through and close attention to detail.
- Ability to work collaboratively across design, product development, production, suppliers, and factories in a fast-paced environment.
Full description
Overview:
The Trim Manager supports the Raw Materials team, with a primary focus on trim purchasing and order management. This role owns the day-to-day execution of trim purchase orders — issuing and tracking orders, monitoring deliveries against the production calendar, reconciling receipts, and following up with suppliers to keep production on schedule. The Trim Manager also supports factories and internal teams in resolving trim receiving issues. The position requires strong organizational skills, proactive follow-up, attention to detail, and the ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
Responsibilities:
- Issue and track trim, label, and packaging orders for production, ensuring that pricing, lead times, and delivery dates align with calendar and company needs.
- Place blanket production orders for key suppliers and negotiate best pricing and lead times.
- Liaison with cross functional partners to communicate the status of bulk goods, update WIP charts, and ensure any potential delivery risks are escalated to appropriate teams.
- Track production trim shipments across domestic and overseas suppliers and proactively follow up on open orders to ensure production deadlines are met.
- Communicate all incoming domestic shipments to cross functional teams and factories, ensuring shipments arrive as expected. Reconcile final received quantities against purchase orders and packing lists and resolve any discrepancies between suppliers and vendors.
- Validate supplier shipping documentation for accuracy and completeness; escalate documentation or customs compliance issues to broader team.
- Receive and review bulk production trims for approval and ensure that they align with the brand’s standard of quality.
- Communicate trim specifications, packaging requirements, labeling details, and testing standards to factories and suppliers.
- Follow up on all trim adjustments from SMS going into production and ensure that any revisions are clearly communicated to vendors and teams.
- Partner with teams to ensure all preproduction trims are available for sampling as needed.
- Initiate and follow up on trim testing requests to ensure components are to company standard. Validate any relevant results against proposed care instructions.
- Support team in problem solving any trim quality or defect concerns.
- Review and validate BOM’s to ensure all trim information is accurate.
- Maintain and organize bulk trim libraries, ensuring components are easily accessible.
- Conduct regular audits and seasonal clean-ups in partnership with domestic factories to ensure inventory accuracy.