Category Manager - Sweaters

Anthropologie is looking for a category-specific leader that facilitates and executes Design's vision through the development and management of pre-production processes and production work flow. Expert troubleshooter with strong competencies in raw material, price/costing, and delivery issue resolution. Strategically supports Merchant's needs and Brand business requirements with a forward looking approach. Strong collaboration with partners in sourcing operations, product development, design and merchandising. Required to provide training, development and support of team members and direct reports.

Role Responsibilities:

SOURCING STRATEGY

• Manage brand initiatives and goals.
• Create and manage monthly forecast by factory, and annual mill strategy by provided operations calendar deadlines measured by monthly book to date reconciliation.
• Control final allocations.
• Develop and maintain relationships with vendors to ensure successful business partnerships.
• Analyze industry trends to proactively identify supply base issues to reduce cost, minimize risk, protect continuity of supply, and exploit emerging opportunities that benefit the brand.
• Book fabrics and manage deliveries, and liabilities. Reviewed at quarterly mill review.
• Initiate and book early fabric commitments.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT BLUEPRINT

• Collaborate between stakeholders to create calendar and meet deadlines as measured by seasonal calendar actualization report.
• Outline and communicate brand and category strategy based on Trend meeting.
• Improve adoption rates over specific time period and hit approved line plan style count measured by seasonal line plan actualization.
• Manage commitments and order placements.

PRODUCTION WORK IN PROCESS

• Calculate and manage rolling and final IMUs at order placement for variance IMU analysis.
• Strategize brand business opportunities including freight modes for distribution center receipt, flow, and margin opportunity.
• Manage product development and production process for merchant direct product.
• Provide IMU targets and guidance to team to negotiate final costing with vendors ensuring margins are met or exceeded.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT/MANAGEMENT

• Assess and develop staff. Build the appropriate team to ensure effective day to day management of each business group and accurate and readily available records and reports.
• Coach staff to generate creative solutions.
• Ability to lead change, and coach team to respond to a rapidly changing business environment.
• Facilitate corporate initiative of global work shift to support international expansion.
• Coordinate and facilitate team to deliver aesthetically correct samples that meet Design's vision and the Merchant's requirements.
• Facilitate team to maintain and manage the pre-production time and action and production work-in-process.

Role Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience managing large teams working in a fast paced environment.
• Experience traveling overseas to evaluate vendors and to determine areas of improvement.
• Supervise subordinates' responsibilities to ensure accomplishment of department goals and deadlines.
• Promote the development of subordinates through supervision and training.
• Pro-actively approach problem solving.
• Implement operational efficiencies.
• Adapt quickly to changes.
• Driven by deadlines with a high sense of urgency.