Director, Production SP, Licensing & Custom

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Director, Production SP, Licensing & Custom

FullTime Senior Management Detroit MI Office, Detroit, MI, US

Salary Range: $115,000.00 To $130,000.00 Annually

Job Description

Title: Director, Production – Special Projects, Licensing & Custom

Department: Production

Location: Detroit

Position Summary

The Director, Production - Special Projects, Licensing & Custom is a highly adaptable, hands‑on production leader responsible for overseeing the manufacturing of our non‑mainline product categories, including special‑project capsules, collaborations, licensed product for major professional sports organizations, and custom orders. Reporting to the Vice President of Production, this role will lead the team responsible for end‑to‑end production and decoration execution.

This is a highly dynamic, fast‑paced area of the business with compressed timelines, evolving requirements, and multiple simultaneous priorities. The Director must be a calm, decisive operator who thrives in ambiguity, continuously reprioritizes, anticipates problems, and brings clarity, accountability, and disciplined follow‑through without sacrificing speed or flexibility. Strong project management, communication, commercial judgment, and hands‑on problem‑solving skills are essential.

This position must be based in Detroit, Michigan and work on‑site with the local team and production operation.

This is not a remote position. Candidates who are not currently located in the Detroit area must be willing to relocate.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and direction for the Special Projects, Licensing, and Custom production team, establishing clear ownership, priorities, operating rhythms, and performance expectations.
• Own end‑to‑end production execution for non‑mainline product categories, from initial feasibility and raw‑material commitment through manufacturing, decoration, and finished‑goods delivery.
• Create structure and visibility across a complex, rapidly changing project pipeline by maintaining integrated development and production calendars, WIP reports, line sheets, and decision logs.
• Continuously assess and reset priorities as business needs change; communicate tradeoffs, resource constraints, risks, and delivery implications quickly and directly.
• Partner closely with Design, Merchandising, Sales, Marketing, Planning, Logistics, and Wholesale Fulfillment to translate launches, events, collaborations, and customer commitments into executable production plans.
• Evaluate project feasibility, lead times, minimums, capacity, cost, quality requirements, and operational risk before commitments are finalized.
• Develop clear development and production calendars covering raw materials, cut and sew, decoration, approvals, and finished‑goods delivery.
• Secure and manage domestic and offshore factory and decoration capacity, balancing flexibility with quality, cost, and lead‑time requirements.
• Build and optimize workflows for embroidery, DTF, heat press, screen printing, patch application, and other decoration methods, including development of specialized domestic vendor resources.
• Partner with Planning to ensure adequate supply of blank garments and components for customization needs while limiting excess inventory and obsolescence.
• Lead recurring cross‑functional and vendor WIP meetings, drive decisions to closure, assign actions, and elevate risks early with recommended solutions.
• Own issue resolution when timelines, quality, materials, approvals, or capacity fall off plan; develop recovery options and drive the selected path through completion.
• Ensure licensed product complies with applicable league, team, brand, labeling, testing, quality, and approval requirements.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators, including on‑time delivery, schedule adherence, WIP aging, quality, capacity utilization, and cost performance.
• Mentor and develop team members while identifying practical process improvements that increase speed, accuracy, accountability, and scalability.

Qualifications

• Must be based in Detroit and able to work on‑site; relocation is required if not already local.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in apparel production, sourcing, operations, or supply chain, including at least 3 years leading teams or a complex production function.
• Strong technical knowledge of apparel manufacturing, including knit and woven cut‑and‑sew production and garment customization.
• Robust experience with embroidery, DTF, heat press, screen printing, patch application, or comparable decoration methods.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple concurrent, high‑visibility projects with compressed timelines, incomplete information, and frequently changing priorities.
• Exceptional project‑management and organizational skills, with rigorous attention to detail and follow‑through.
• Sound judgment under pressure and the ability to make timely decisions, communicate tradeoffs, and elevate appropriately.
• Strong vendor‑management, negotiation, communication, and problem‑solving capabilities across domestic and offshore partners.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience with ERP and PLM systems; NetSuite experience is strongly preferred.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Apparel Production, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Unlimited Paid Time Off
• 13 annual paid company holidays
• Competitive employee discount
• Paid Family Leave Program (Maternity & Bonding)
• Company paid long‑term and short‑term disability
• Tax Advantage Accounts (FSA, HSA, FSA Dependent Care, 401(k) & 401(k) Roth
• Comprehensive Medical Coverage (medical, dental, vision) with company HSA contributions