Product Development Manager, Tops - Knits
Quince
OUR STORY
Quince was started to challenge the existing idea that nice things should cost a lot. Our mission was simple: create an item of equal or greater quality than the leading luxury brands and sell them at a much lower price.
OUR VALUES
Customer First. Customer satisfaction is our highest priority.
High Quality. True quality is a combination of premium materials and high production standards that everyone can feel good about.
Essential design. We don’t chase trends, and we don’t sell everything. We’re expert curators that find the very best and bring it to you at the lowest prices.
Always a better deal. Through innovation and real price transparency we want to offer the best deal to both our customers and our factory partners.
Environmentally and Socially conscious. We’re committed to sustainable materials and sustainable production methods. That means a cleaner environment and fair wages for factory workers.
OUR TEAM AND SUCCESS
Quince is a retail and technology company co-founded by a team that has extensive experience in retail, technology and building early stage companies. You’ll work with a team of world-class talent from Stanford GSB, Google, D.E. Shaw, Stitch Fix, Urban Outfitters, Wayfair, McKinsey, Nike etc.
Job description: Product Development Manager - Knits
As Product Development Manager, you have a critical role in ensuring that Quince is able to rapidly develop and commercialize new products so that we can expand our catalog of high - quality essential products at radically competitive pricing. New product introduction and rapid, high - quality, catalog expansion is core to Quince’s growth, and is the driving objective for this role.
You are a critical member of the sourcing and product development team, working closely with merchants and sourcing team members on:
○ Inform NPC decisions by providing a perspective on the development complexity of potential new items.
■ Starting with the hand - off of the Product Development Sheet from the merchants, work with factory partners to develop products and ensure readiness to meet first shipment.
■ Work with partners to identify opportunities to increase speed (in both development and replenishment lead time) and reduce cost of product through potential product changes (e.g. change to stock colors or stock fabric that closely match original specifications);
■ Ensure that Quince’s standards of high product quality are met.
■ Flexibly adapt to new processes introduced at different stages of the
company, such as recent “Go to Market Collection Ceremonies”.
- Partner Ambassador - In your engagement with our manufacturing partners, you
represent the Quince brand.
○ You will treat every engagement as an opportunity to continue to build a strong partnership with our manufacturers.
○ Additionally, you will share with the sourcing team any opportunities that you observe to improve the partner relationship.
Product Development Performance and Process Improvement
○ Ensure data in the product development pipeline is up-to-date and highlight any dates at-risk.
○ Drive continuous improvement in the Product Development process, identifying and executing opportunities to reduce time from NPC-approval to On-Site.
○ Partner with Sourcing to obtain minimum 2 price testing with credible, signed vendors before sampling
Deliverables:
- Create and maintain a prioritized plan across development programs based on On-site date, program impact and your capacity.
- Proactively identify and raise gaps in coverage or delivery and propose solutions, sharing weekly metrics on progress and performance.
- Quick time to market - from NPC to on-site sales.
- Complete the product launch within an avg. 16 weeks (vary between product types ) from NPC to launch, with a strict cap of 2 sample development round.
- Be a pro-active partner with merchants to improve garments/goods (construction, materials, fit etc.); read the reviews of selected products and figure out how to improve the item. Work with Product development lead and Product Development to design and execute a plan to achieve radical; performance in product development to fuel Quince catalogue growth of high-quality products, including:
○ Work closely with TD and MR to ensure T/P and Dev sheet detail are clear to vendor for flawless sample execution
○ Deliver high quality products with a less than 0.2% defect rate.
○ Sitewide reviews on products launched exceed 4.7 or better.
○ Iterate and improve launched products based on customer feedback (fit, material, construction etc);
○ Follow up on Photo samples.
30 days key deliverables:
- Vendor allocation by plan, cost breakdown ready, P1 sample ready in 5-7 days from from Dev sheet and T/P sent
- On-time to hit the new style request launch date
- Workflow 100% completion
We rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, skills, and experience to determine your compensation in the market range. Bonus eligibility varies by role and is determined based on the position’s impact and contribution to our strategic goals.
Security Advisory: Beware of Frauds
At Quince, we're dedicated to recruiting top talent who share our drive for innovation. To safeguard candidates, Quince emphasizes legitimate recruitment practices. Initial communication is primarily via official Quince email addresses and LinkedIn; beware of deviations. Personal data and sensitive information will not be solicited during the application phase. Interviews are conducted via phone, in person, or through the approved platforms Google Meets or Zoom—never via messaging apps or other calling services. Offers are merit-based, communicated verbally, and followed up in writing. If personal information is requested to initiate the hiring process, rest assured it will be through secure and protected means.