Director of Production

Job Responsibilities
Owning on-time, right-first-time delivery across internal lines, subcontractors and international partners, along with capacity, yield, labor and cost
Leading the full production organization (production management, planning, purchasing and raw materials) with clear roles, KPIs and accountability
Running a disciplined capacity and production planning process in NetSuite: realistic ATP/ship dates, DPAS-rated order priority, early escalation
Building and managing a global supplier and subcontractor base: sourcing at trade shows and mill visits, negotiating price, terms and lead times
Holding suppliers accountable with scorecards, NCMRs, chargebacks and corrective action; enforcing specs, test reports and CoCs at the source
Seeing risk early (single sources, long-lead fabrics, Berry/DFARS, tariffs, capacity crunches) and putting mitigation in place before it hits
Partnering with Quality, Manufacturing Engineering and Product Development to launch new products into full-rate production
Supporting our growing international operations: qualifying and managing foreign suppliers and partner factories for allied programs
Replacing spreadsheets and email chains with systems, dashboards, automation and AI-enabled tools; driving continuous improvement
Reporting weekly on OTD, WIP, capacity, supplier performance, inventory and cost vs. plan, never shying away from the bad news

Required Experience & Qualifications
10+ years of textile/apparel production or sourcing leadership; sewn products required, military/tactical or technical apparel strongly preferred
Proven record negotiating with and managing domestic and overseas mills, trim suppliers and CMT subcontractors, with results to show
Real technical depth in fabrics, construction, testing and specs: able to challenge a supplier's data, not just accept it
Data-driven and process-oriented; advanced ERP (NetSuite preferred) and Excel/BI; builds the dashboards and SOPs rather than waiting for them
Enthusiastic daily user of AI and automation tools; quick to adopt new technology
Working knowledge of Berry Amendment, DPAS-rated orders, ISO 9001 and government contracting preferred
Direct, candid communicator who surfaces problems early; travel ~10-15% (trade shows, suppliers, international)
Must be a U.S. citizen