Job description
Our global footwear and apparel client is hiring a Design Ops Manager on a 3 month contract that is likely to extend and could lead to fulltime opportunities. This is a remote opportunity. This position is eligible for benefits and sick time. The Men’s Footwear/Apparel Design Team is tasked with responding to our consumers’ expectations by imagining and creating products that will inspire the next generation of athletes* and innovations that will enable them to achieve their maximum potential.
The Design Operations Manager is an integral part of the Men’s Design team. An enthusiastic, fast learning, and well-organized team player who seeks and implements solutions that simplify the collaboration both within the design teams (product, color, and graphics) and with partner functions across Product Creation.
They do so by understanding the team’s needs, collaborating with Product and Merchandising Operations piers, and leveraging the tools and resources to drive maximum efficiency, remove duplication and creating an environment where the design team feel empowered, having creative space and focus without unnecessary distractions and roadblocks.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Be a strategic thought partner to the Men’s Design Operations Director and help drive design strategy execution
- Drive calendar and process optimization for seasonal design “sprints” (from Creative Kick off to product fittings) and collaborate with Product Operations on mapping and executing key product creation moments and gates
- Facilitate tear down of key gates and processes execution and identification of key actions for continued process and collaboration improvements
Partnership with Design Directors:
- provide clear visibility and accountability on all processes, policies and procedures for the design team
- support in planning and executing inspiring, motivational, and educational experiences for design teams to support team building
- Support the implementation of Digital Creation and help the team achieve the seasonal targets
- Partnership with cross-functional & central operations piers:
- create an operations digital hub for the team to find useful tools and resources
- contribute and participate to the weekly broadcast of updates and calendar dates to the Men’s community (with functional focus on design)
- coordinate seasonal and process specific training to members of the men’s design team
- Help drive cross-functional and cross-gender integration with Product Management, Merchandising, and across Men’s, Women’s, and Kids’ (and their Ops representatives)
- Support alignment and collaboration between Men’s Branded and PTL
QUALIFICATIONS:
Our ideal candidate is able to work within a matrix organization, partnering with and influencing the network of cross-functional piers. They are comfortable with ambiguity, can find and adopt existing benchmark solutions as well as build from scratch, without an existing playbook, and take action. Last but not least, they master digital collaboration tools and software and know how to leverage them in the team’s service.
- 4+ years of product creation operations experience (preferred) or project management
- Experience in working with design / creative teams (or inclination to do so when lacking proven experience)
- Demonstrated ability with project management and productivity digital tools (primarily, but not limited to, Miro and Smartsheet) and ability to fine-tune for the end users – i.e. designers
- Proficient in Keynote, Powerpoint and Excel and their ‘online collaboration’ versions
