Director of Product Development & Production
Printfresh is a fast-growing, design-driven lifestyle brand known for whimsical hand-painted prints and premium sleepwear and apparel. As we scale, we are building a disciplined product organization that protects creativity while delivering operational excellence.
This role is hybrid, typically working in our Philadelphia office Tuesday-Thursday and from home Mondays and Fridays (occasional in-office M/F may be required for fittings, meetings, and other events).
Position Overview:
The Director of Product Development & Production is the single point of accountability for product creation execution at Printfresh, from concept through bulk placement.
This role leads Technical Design and Product Development to ensure launches stay on schedule, margins are protected, quality standards are upheld, and product is cleanly handed off to Supply Chain for production and delivery.
You will lead a small but high-impact team responsible for turning beautiful ideas into well-executed product, while maintaining strong vendor relationships and disciplined development processes.
Key Responsibilities:
Product Lifecycle Ownership
- Own the end-to-end product development process from concept through bulk placement, including proto, SMS, fit approval, costing validation, and PO creation
- Maintain the master development calendar through bulk placement and PO confirmation
- Ensure tech packs are production-ready prior to bulk commitment
- Validate costing and margin prior to bulk placement
- Own PO creation accuracy in Fulfil, confirming costing, quantities, and ship dates with vendors before production begins
- Oversee TOP process and sample approval workflows
- Manage fit approval and grading accuracy in partnership with Technical Design
- Provide weekly T&A updates to cross-functional stakeholders through bulk placement
- Provide confirmed product data from the linesheet and PLM/PIM to the Operations data team following PO creation
Technical Design Leadership
- Lead the Technical Design team (currently Alison and an additional Technical Designer)
- Ensure clean, accurate, production-ready tech packs delivered on calendar
- Drive disciplined fittings and grading accuracy
- Monitor quality trends including fit, construction, fabric performance, and color consistency
- Lead corrective actions when recurring quality issues emerge
Product Development Management
- Lead the Product Development team (currently Molly and Kaylee)
- Ensure development calendars are realistic, visible, and consistently followed
- Oversee proto flow and sample management through SMS and fit approval
- Drive adoption of PLM/PIM systems across Product Development and Technical Design teams
- Maintain linesheet accuracy in partnership with Merchandising and Buying
Vendor Relationships – Product Side
- Lead factory and agent relationships related to quality, development, costing, and compliance
- Develop and maintain vendor scorecards evaluating quality, fit accuracy, and communication
- Conduct quarterly vendor performance reviews
- Oversee vendor compliance and audit programs
- Travel to key vendors approximately 1–2 times per year (India, Peru, and other regions as relevant)
Margin & Cost Leadership
- Establish FOB and landed margin targets in partnership with Merchandising before development begins
- Negotiate pricing and challenge cost increases when necessary
- Analyze landed cost including freight and duty in partnership with Supply Chain
- Ensure costing accuracy to support margin reporting and planning
- Partner with Merchandising on retail pricing alignment
Fabric & Material Strategy
- Oversee fabric liability and greige planning
- Own replenishment strategy for core fabrics and materials
- Coordinate India packaging alignment with Design and Production
What Success Looks Like
- High on-time launch rate through bulk placement
- Improving gross margin performance season over season
- Reduced QA issues and fewer fit corrections at bulk
- Strong adherence to development calendars
- Clean bulk placement with accurate costing and confirmed vendor readiness
- Strong vendor product performance scores
- Reliable product data within PLM/PIM systems
Requirements
- 8–12 years of experience in Product Development, Technical Design, or Production within an apparel or lifestyle brand
- Strong global sourcing experience; India experience strongly preferred
- Technical design fluency with the ability to read and evaluate tech packs independently
- Strong costing and margin discipline
- Experience leading and developing small teams
- Highly organized with strong calendar management and execution discipline
- Comfortable holding teams accountable to timelines and quality standards
- Fluent in PLM systems and product data best practices
- Thrives in a fast-moving, creative brand environment
Benefits
What We Offer
- Health and dental insurance
- PTO and paid holidays
- 401(k) with company match
- Employee discount on all Printfresh products
About Our Culture
At Printfresh, we celebrate creativity, sustainability, and a customer-first mindset. Our core values guide everything we do:
- Do the Right Thing
- Just Say It
- Do What It Takes
- Just Off-Center
- Customer-Centric
- Learning Oriented
Why Join Printfresh?
- Join a fast-growing, creative team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of fashion and design.
- Work in an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and professional growth.