Senior Product Management Associate, Polo Men’s Sweaters, PFS

Position Overview

As part of the Product Management team, you will manage the Product Development and Production (full product life cycle) for the Sweater category within the Polo brand for Men’s.

You will partner with the Design, Merchandising, Technical Design, and Raw Materials Teams, as well as Sourcing Offices, Factories & Mills to ensure the integrity of product from salesman sample to bulk production.

The Product Management Senior Associate will support the development and execution of the product strategy for the brand to create the best overall value in terms of product, price, lead-time, and quality.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Participate in Board Review with Design and Merchandising to establish product pipeline, risk assessment, and TD track (high / medium / low touch)
• Participate in Hand Offs with Product Design. Follow up with Design as needed to receive all information necessary to build a Tech Pack within calendar milestones.
• Work on BOM set up and maintenance in PLM. Create initial BOM based on design Hand Off. Update BOM for showroom samples (post-proto approval) through stock approval / OK to buy / production ready.
• Meet with regional sourcing offices to handoff seasonal line sheets and walk through overall product execution expectations and sample timing.
• Lead weekly WIP meeting and attend weekly fit meetings.
• Track & monitor requests with sourcing offices for trim / artwork / wash submits, lab dips, etc. Work with sourcing offices to develop counter source raw materials and components as needed.
• Partner with Design and PMT lead on all design approvals and comments. Ensure products are meeting design execution & RL standards / requirements.

Ensure all approvals are made to meet sample and production deadlines.

• Track, monitor & unpack showroom samples. Provide weekly sample status updates. Troubleshoot with customs / small parcel teams as needed.
• Work with sourcing offices to address any development or production issues.
• Review and update all costs from initial to final stages in PLM Cost Extension & ensure accurate data flows to GFE & o9 systems.
• Work with PMT lead to analyze product costing, address costing concerns & opportunities for product engineering.
• Present product costing, YOY cost comparisons & cost saving options in seasonal cross functional cost meetings.
• Work with PMT lead to review Time&Action files and upload buy dates into GFE system. Action weekly buys in GFE & SAP systems and follow through to PO creation with sourcing offices.
• Ensure system data integrity in working towards our corporate goals of BOMs & costing.

System maintenance and input is required to support all of the above functions in our corporate systems. Run weekly system checks for missing data & data integrity.

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

• Proven expertise and experience with product development and production full product life cycle, from design vision to production ready.
• Technical product knowledge and in-depth understanding of all product components (fabric / yarn, trim, print, etc.) Experience in in sweaters categories is a plus.
• Excellent communicator with strong ability to collaborate cross functionally with design, merchandising, technical design & sourcing teams.
• Solutions oriented approaches to problem solving, and adaptability
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, quickly pivot, and problem solve.
• Strong organizational skills with detailed attention to product information.
• Strong computer skills is a must - Intermediate to advanced Excel, Outlook, FlexPLM, SAP, GFE+.
• In office minimum 2-3 days / week; more depending on time of season.
• Embodies the CFAs of the RL Brand

Ralph Lauren will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in a manner consistent with the requirements of the law, including any applicable fair chance laws.