Head of Sourcing and Product Development

The Foggy Dog - San Francisco, CA

Full-time - Senior

San Francisco, CA

About the position

The Head of Sourcing and Product Development at The Foggy Dog is a pivotal role responsible for leading the sourcing, product development, and production of premium pet products. This position requires building strong relationships with domestic and international suppliers, developing a comprehensive sourcing strategy, and overseeing the entire product lifecycle from development to delivery. The ideal candidate will thrive in a creative and data-driven environment, contributing to the company's growth and product line expansion while ensuring quality and cost-effectiveness.

Responsibilities

• Own all phases of the product lifecycle for all product lines from product development to delivery, including technical development, sourcing, sampling, production, and quality control.
• Establish a product development roadmap that accelerates the pace of development while also reducing costs, mitigating supply-chain risks, and improving quality.
• Develop a comprehensive sourcing strategy, including evaluating current suppliers and sourcing new suppliers.
• Partner with Design and Merchandising to deliver styles that meet our aesthetic and quality standards.
• Develop a manufacturing plan to ensure production capabilities are aligned with our sales plan.
• Own costing and optimize cost of goods.
• Partner with Design, Merchandising and Planning to drive margin targets and inform pricing and product mix decisions.
• Own the time and action calendar for all vendors to ensure on-time, accurate delivery.
• Work with vendors to build a robust and scalable QC program.
• Travel domestically and internationally as needed to initiate and maintain strong vendor relationships, train factories on standards and troubleshoot issues (no more than 2 international trips/year).
• Lead our production team to develop new products and continuously improve existing products and packaging in a way that results in on-time, on-budget products that improve our brand experience and delight our customers.
• Manage the movement of goods, freight costs and manage our 3PL partner regarding the timely receipt of finished goods.
• Provide training, development, and mentorship for the product team.

Requirements

• 10-15+ years of experience in Product Development, Production, and Sourcing with experience leading teams in these roles.
• Strong experience in managing factory relationships with an existing network of overseas suppliers.
• Experience with both domestic and overseas production is a plus.
• Experience with raw material sourcing and finished goods manufacturing in home, gifts, soft goods, and/or accessories.
• Experience with QC/QA strategy and ability to build processes and measure QC success.
• Exceptional communication and negotiation skills.
• An excellent project manager with strong time management and prioritization skills; exceptional ability to juggle many priorities across multiple timelines.
• Strong passion for people and a strong instinct for managing and developing talent.
• A team leader who values collaboration, communication, mentorship and transparency.
• Impeccable attention to detail and eye for quality.
• A strong grasp of The Foggy Dog's brand standards and aesthetics.
• Strategic thinker with a proven ability to execute and build scalable processes and systems.
• Strong knowledge of import and export industry terminology, documentation processes and procedures.

Nice-to-haves

• Pet goods experience a plus, but not required.
• Ability to travel internationally and domestically as needed (no more than 4x/year).
• A dog lover, of course!

Benefits

• Paid holidays
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) matching
• Paid vacation
• Sick leave
• Generous Foggy Dog product allowance
• Ability to bring your dog to work