Product Development

Product Development & Sourcing Manager (ACTA) HydroJug, Inc.
· ACTA
· Ogden, UT
· In office
· Full-time About HydroJug HydroJug, Inc. is headquartered in Ogden, Utah. ACTA is HydroJug's apparel and lifestyle collection brand, designing and selling core and limited-edition product through direct-to-consumer and retail channels.

About the Role
ACTA designs strong products. This role makes sure every style is made correctly, on time and at the right cost. Product development is where production begins: when design hands over the line, you choose the vendor for each style, negotiate the price, and work out cost options with the team when a quote comes in over target. You also own our relationships with factories from first sample to production-ready, so samples are reviewed and returned quickly, new suppliers are onboarded properly, and our supplier terms protect our launch dates. You sit on the ACTA product team and work side by side with design and technical design. The Sales & Operations Plan (S&OP) sets the dates, working back from the launch calendar Marketing sets; you make the development milestones inside that plan happen. Responsibilities
• Own the development calendar inside the S&OP plan: sample rounds, lab dips, fabric and trim development, so every milestone lands on the date the S&OP Manager sets.
• Place each style with the right vendor: when design hands over the line, allocate each style to a vendor based on capability, cost and capacity, partnering with design on factory selection, and get quotes back quickly.
• Bring cost options to the table: when a quote comes in over target, work with the vendor on options (a different fabric quality, a trim removed, a simpler construction), bring them to fittings so design and technical design can decide, and send the decision back to the vendor.
• Know the fabric: check incoming fabrics and samples against what was approved and catch the wrong fabric or quality on arrival. When a fabric is too costly, have the vendor source alternative qualities, check them against our quality standard, and bring the workable ones to design for approval.
• Keep samples moving: track every sample from the vendor until it reaches design and technical design, and find any that go missing. Agree with technical design each day which fits have to go out first. Run sample reviews with design and technical design, collect comments, get decisions, and send one clear set of feedback to the factory, so every sample is reviewed and turned back within the agreed window.
• Be the day-to-day voice to our vendors: keep communication moving with overseas suppliers, including in their

working hours
when a decision can't wait.
• Bring on new suppliers: source, vet and evaluate factories, and bring design and technical design in to assess a factory's capabilities and product execution before any major supplier decision. Collect documents, run compliance checks, set quality standards with Supplier Quality, and take each new supplier through a first production order.
• Set supplier terms: negotiate unit cost, payment terms, minimum orders and lead times, and write a clear sea-to-air cutoff and freight responsibility for delays into every supplier agreement.
• Fix quality problems before they hit the timeline: work with the factory, technical design and Supplier Quality to find the cause of a quality issue before bulk production, and flag any risk to the launch date early.
• Build the cost of every style: landed-cost breakdowns that support design decisions and MSRP. Why the Role Exists ACTA has no one who owns the factory relationship from first sample to production-ready. Samples sit waiting for review, new suppliers are brought on without a standard process, and supplier terms do not say when a shipment moves from sea to air or who pays when a delay is the factory's fault. Today the design team absorbs product development and production work on top of design, and the Supply & Launch Planner has carried style costing and some sample tracking without the fabric and construction knowledge the work needs. Better pricing is how ACTA grows sustainably, and this seat is where it comes from: placing styles with vendors, negotiating, and bringing cost options to fittings. This hire owns sample turnaround, supplier onboarding, supplier terms and cost for ACTA, on the product team, working inside the timeline the S&OP Manager sets. Success Criteria 12 months:
• Samples are reviewed and returned to the factory within the agreed window on at least [90]% of rounds.
• Every active ACTA supplier has signed terms that include a sea-to-air cutoff and who pays for air when a delay is theirs.
• No launch moves to air freight because of a late sample approval.
• Every new supplier goes through one written onboarding process with complete records.
• Target costs are met or beaten on the majority of new styles, measured against a baseline set in the first 90 days.
• Every style that quotes over target comes to its fitting with cost options, and no sample goes missing without being found. 30 days: Meet ACTA's active factories and the product team. Map where each style is in development today and how long sample rounds actually take. Review current supplier terms and list what is missing. 90 days: Run sample reviews on a set rhythm with design and technical design. Agree a turnaround window with design and the factories. Draft the supplier onboarding checklist and standard terms, including the sea-to-air cutoff, with the VP of Commercial Operations. Lead one negotiation. 180 days: Sample turnaround is tracked and hitting the window. Standard terms are signed with the main factories. One new supplier has completed a first production order through the new process. Qualifications Required
• 5–8 years in apparel product development, sourcing or production, working with overseas cut-and-sew factories
• Has run a development calendar through sample rounds to production approval, and can describe how they kept samples moving
• Has placed styles with vendors and negotiated cost and terms with apparel suppliers, including lead times and freight, and can describe the outcome
• Has brought cost-down options (fabric, trim or construction changes) to a fitting or line review and taken the decision back to the vendor
• Has brought a new factory on board, from vetting through a first production order
• Knows fabric and garment construction well enough to spot the wrong fabric or quality on arrival, judge a substitute quality, and work through a fit or quality problem with technical design and the factory
• Direct and straightforward with vendors and teammates: raises problems openly and follows through Preferred
• Activewear, athleisure or knit experience
• Experience with factories in China or Vietnam
• Experience with NetSuite or a product lifecycle management (PLM) system
• Direct-to-consumer brand background with frequent collection releases Reporting & Organization
• Reports to the VP of Commercial Operations, who sets priorities, reviews performance, and approves new suppliers and changes to standard terms. Dotted line to the Senior Apparel Designer – Limited Editions, who sets day-to-day product priorities and runs sample reviews and fittings with this role. Sits on the ACTA product team and is dedicated to ACTA. Direct reports: none.
• Escalation: Work a cross-functional disagreement out first with the person who owns the decision: design for fabrics, colors, prints, aesthetics and design changes; technical design for fit and specifications; the S&OP Manager for dates. If it isn't settled within [two] business days, or it puts a cost target or launch date at risk, take it to the VP of Commercial Operations and the Senior Apparel Designer together with the options and the cost and date impact of each. If they can't agree, [the VP of Marketing] makes the final call.
• Work model: In office, Ogden, Utah. Some early-morning or evening contact with overseas vendors in their

working hours
.
• Tools: NetSuite, Excel or Google Sheets, Asana.
• Travel: Occasional supplier visits, domestic and international.
• Physical

requirements:
Office-based. Rare supplier visits may involve factory floors, walking and standing for long periods.
• Cross-functional partners: ACTA design team, Senior Technical Designer, S&OP Manager, Supply & Launch Planner, Supplier Quality, Finance.
• Decisions this role owns: Supplier sourcing, evaluation, negotiation and allocation: which vendor each style is placed with (partnering with design on factory selection); which cost options go to the fitting; development milestone dates inside the S&OP plan; consolidated sample feedback to factories; which candidate suppliers to vet and quote; negotiating within agreed cost targets; the onboarding checklist and supplier records. Major supplier decisions are made after design and technical design have assessed the factory's capabilities and product execution. New supplier approvals and changes to standard terms go to the VP of Commercial Operations. Design keeps final approval of fabrics, colors, prints, aesthetics and any design change; technical design owns fit and specifications.
• Does not own: the master timeline or the sea-to-air cutoff date for each launch (S&OP Manager); placing purchase orders and all vendor follow-up from PO placement to arrival, including ex-factory dates and shipping (supply and launch planner, who takes over vendor contact once the PO is placed); MSRP (supply and launch planner); receiving, labeling and logging samples once they are in the building (Junior Technical Designer). Compensation We base salary on your experience, not a posted range. Feel free to raise it on your first call with our recruiter — we'd rather talk about it early than leave you guessing.

How to Apply
Apply through the HydroJug careers page or the LinkedIn posting. Include your resume. Our recruiter will reach out to candidates whose experience matches the role.