Senior Production Manager

Location: New York, NY (Soho)
Reports to: Head of Production
Direct report: Production Coordinator
Work Schedule: In Office Monday- Thursday; WFH Fridays

At La Ligne (www.lalignenyc.com), we believe in the universal appeal of the stripe—always classic, forever chic. With a nod to its iconic roots, we created La Ligne to give women a few new (and unexpected) ways to wear it. La Ligne offers versatile clothing collections inspired by the line with endless styling options.

We’re inspired by all kinds of self-expression. We design everyday necessities and the occasional splurge—the kind of clothing we would want to wear. We prize functionality but we also want you to have fun while you’re at it. In other words, if you can’t eat, dance and drink in it, we won’t make it. And while some clothes stay and some go, we want to be the ones that stay awhile.

This role owns production execution and the production system of record—taking adopted styles from PPS and TOP through bulk approvals, care labeling, and on-time in-warehouse delivery—and manages the Production Coordinator, partnering closely with the Product Development Manager, Tech Design, Operations, and factories.

Responsibilities
- Own seasonal production WIPs, updated and monitored weekly, organized by in-warehouse arrival week with ex-factory shown as a supporting date, and including reorders and recuts with the same date detail as seasonal styles
- Accountable for on-time in-warehouse delivery against the launch calendar (target: 95% of styles in warehouse ten days before launch), production cost to adopted cost, and bulk quality against approved standard, with defect rates and vendor chargebacks reported monthly
- Own the ERP as the production system of record. All styles, POs, cut tickets, ex-factory and in-warehouse dates, fabric allocation and inventory are entered and maintained in the system; the ERP, not a spreadsheet, is the source of truth for anything reported to the business
- Assume ownership of the production and inventory modules from Operations at inventory go-live, and be accountable for data accuracy thereafter, including a documented monthly reconciliation of system inventory against warehouse and fabric stock with variances reported
- Own fabric inventory and allocation as a live record covering greige on order, color allocation, seasonal POs, reorder POs and reorder stock. Every order entered—seasonal, reorder or wholesale—is reflected in allocation at the point of entry rather than in a periodic snapshot
- Own the quality control program for domestic and overseas production, including inspection standards, sample pull and measurement requirements, and a documented process for repair, rejection and return to vendor when bulk fails standard
- Own vendor accountability: hold factories to committed ex-factory dates, document misses, and pursue recovery or compensation where a factory error causes lost sell-through
- Own capacity planning across the factory and mill base: confirm capacity before commitment, and build second-source coverage for categories currently single-sourced
- Manage and create the season fitting schedule based on priority
- Collaborate with the Product Development Manager and Tech Designer to ensure PPS and TOP comments are sent on time
- Communicate closely with factories and the Head of Production to ensure “X” factory delivery dates are maintained
- Communicate any delay relevant to the weekly launch schedule at the point it is known, with at least one recommended alternative scenario rather than notification alone, and partner with the Design Director and Merchandising to rearrange styles
- Where a shipment will be partial, specify the required size break to the factory rather than accepting what has been made, and confirm store and e-commerce allocation feasibility before the shipment is approved
- Provide a single consolidated weekly status by style, in one document and one channel, and escalate any risk to a launch date to the Head of Production, Merchandising and Design leadership at the point it is known
- Manage approval for bulk fabrics and trims for all categories, including denim, and maintain a standard format for communicating approval status to all parties
- Own label and tag compliance on bulk goods: care label content and construction, fiber content, country of origin and placement, and market-specific requirements for the US, EU, UK and Canada including licensed care-symbol use. Operations manage the testing program, lab relationship and licensing; this role owns the accuracy of what ships on the garment
- Distribute weekly care label and product details to the Chief Creative Officer from product fit comments provided by Design
- Manage, develop and set priorities for the Production Coordinator, including weekly workload planning and review of their output before it goes to the wider business
- Handle ad hoc duties related to production
Qualifications / Skills
- Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising, Business, or related field preferred
- 7+ years of experience in fashion / apparel production management, ideally in a brand scaling volume
- Proficiency in MS Suite, especially Excel
- Experience owning an ERP or PLM as a system of record, ideally including an implementation or migration
- Experience building or operating a quality control program across domestic and overseas production
- Demonstrated experience holding overseas factories accountable to committed delivery dates, including escalation and recovery
- Proven ability to manage, train and develop a junior direct report
- Superior verbal and written communication skills
- Exceptional organizational and time management skills, with regular travel to local factories and periodic international travel to key vendors
- Understanding of garment construction and strong technical knowledge of production
Pay Range: 110K-120K (based on experience)