Haddad is a privately held family business with over 100 years of experience in the children’s apparel & accessories industry. A leader in the industry, Haddad Brands is the exclusive global licensee for the most iconic brands in the world, including Nike, Jordan, Converse, Hurley, Levi’s, Polo, Abercrombie and Fitch, Lacoste, and Huggies. Supported by a team of professionals skilled in design, sourcing, production, sales, marketing & distribution of premium quality children’s wear, Haddad distributes globally to 100+ countries and maintains sales and sourcing offices in 22 cities globally, including New York, Paris, Hilversum, Shanghai, Egypt, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Montreal. 

Overview:

The Product Manager will be responsible for overseeing the product development process for a specific brand and working cross-functionally with Sourcing and Design to ensure consistent and accurate workflow. 

Key Accountabilities:

• Manage the approval process with the licensor and ensure all designs are submitted and approvals secured as needed   including design modifications, fabric developments & strikeoffs 
• Manage the design product approval process to ensure design intent and feedback is communicated clearly to Sourcing/Suppliers
• Ensure Sourcing is kept up to date on product development progress
• Partner to ensure Corporate is kept up to date on product development progress as required
• Support seasonal fabric development (miro/excel) by working closely with Design, Fabric Development team, and Corporate (as needed) to ensure new fabric research is prioritized and physical fabric library maintained
• Maintain trim library and trim chart (excel) with available colors and sizes, coordinating trim alignment with Corp where   needed
• Manage Sampling process for all channels, from initial request through receipt in NYO, to sales team distros and Corporate
• Work with Design and Fabric Development teams to identify sample fabric needs
• Work with Graphics and Sample teams to identify sample strikeoff needs
• Partner with Technical Design and Design to understand and execute fit intention throughout the development process
• Check SMS request charts from Sample team to ensure accuracy of product details
• Align with Design & Graphics on sample comments & manage the communication with cross-functional teams
• Create SMS sticker comments for samples and share comments with cross-functional, Global and Corporate teams as required
• Manage PLM catalog set up according to the VLPs and conduct PLM (Design) maintenance throughout the development process
• Field SMS product questions from factories and cross-functional teams to ensure accuracy and timeliness
• Partner to manage seasonal product development boards, ensuring accuracy of cads, style numbers and color codes. Conduct maintenance through any updates and changes for all sales tools as needed
• Drive deadlines to ensure milestone are met in adherence to the calendar
• Special Projects as assigned

Required Skills/Abilities/Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design, Product Development, or related field
• 3+ years’ experience in Product Development in the wholesale fashion industry
• Proficient in Microsoft Office
• Excellent organizational, communication and presentation skills with attention to detail
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment

Consistent in-office presence is vital to the role as it is for all Haddad Brands team members, so that we all have a full appreciation, aesthetically and tactilely, of the qualities that define our brand partners’ products and set them apart from their competitors.