Senior Director, Product Development/Design Operations - Women's

Who We Are

o5 group is an industry leader in global fashion & apparel design with 40+ years of success across wholesale, e-comm, and marketplace. We are privately held, HQ in NYC with brand offices in CA - a dynamic portfolio of global brands committed to operational excellence in design, product development, production, sourcing, distribution & logistics. With category expertise in full-collection menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, infant toddler; we specialize in denim, outerwear, activewear, loungewear/sleepwear, trusted by top retailers.

About the Role

The Senior Director, Product Development - Women's will lead and scale end-to-end product development workflows to ensure on-time, on-cost, production-ready product across channels and regions.

This senior leader will define operating cadence, strengthen tech-pack and PLM governance, optimize sampling and calendar processes, and partner cross-functionally with Sourcing/Production, Merchandising, Sales and Design to mitigate risk and accelerate commercialization.

This role requires a seasoned apparel/soft-goods product development leader with hands-on technical design and product development experience, strong vendor and supplier management skills, and a proven ability to implement digital tools and process governance.

How You'll Contribute

• Strategy & Leadership: Own product development strategy and development calendar governance across women's brands and channels.


• Lead and mentor a cross-functional team, including product development managers and vendors; establish clear roles, KPIs and career paths.


• Drive change management and continuous improvement across the product lifecycle.


• Product Commercialization & Technical Governance: Standardize tech-pack, spec, BOM and fit governance.


• Oversee commercialization processes including fit approvals, BOM accuracy, costing handoffs, sample management and production readiness.


• Set and enforce product approval standards and final product release controls.


• Sampling, Calendar & Capacity Management: Own sample flow, SMS/sample tracking and public tracking tools that provide visibility across stages and vendors.


• Optimize sampling cadence, vendor allocations and lead-time management to meet development milestones and launch dates.


• Manage capacity planning, calendar prioritization and vendor selection for seasonal programs across women's.


• Fabric, Raw Material & Vendor Platforming: Lead cross-brand fabric and raw-material platforming strategies to create shared fabric programs, consolidate supplier pools and drive volume leverage across women's brands.


• Build and maintain a fabric-first library and approved material platforms to reduce duplication, speed sourcing, and improve sample-to-production consistency.


• Coordinate strategic vendor enablement and certification so suppliers can support multiple brands efficiently, improving responsiveness and lowering landed costs.


• Partner with Sourcing to implement BOM-level cost engineering for platformed materials.


• Technology & Tools: Champion PLM/PDM governance and lead PLM adoption and integrations with design and sourcing tools.


• Implement technology at o5 and scale 3D prototyping/digital sampling to reduce physical sampling and accelerate approvals.


• Costing, Sourcing & Supplier Performance: Drive BOM-level cost engineering, collaborate on target costing and assess supplier feasibility for cost, quality and lead times.


• Cross-Functional Partnership & Stakeholder Management: Work closely with Design, Merchandising, Sourcing, Production and Sales to align on product priorities and risk mitigation.


• Lead vendor week initiatives, vendor onboarding and supplier relationship programs to improve responsiveness and quality.


• Escalate and resolve development bottlenecks; provide regular updates to senior leadership.

What You Bring to the Team

• 12+ years of progressive experience in apparel/soft-goods product development, technical design or related functions; demonstrated senior leadership experience.


• Experience managing global product development and technical design teams and leading cross-functional initiatives.


• Deep technical knowledge of garment construction, fit, materials, trims, specs and BOM management.


• Hands-on experience with PLM/PDM systems and tech-pack governance.


• Experience implementing or scaling digital sampling / 3D prototyping tools and workflows.


• Proven track record with supplier management and vendor certification.


• Strong analytical, process-improvement and project management skills; comfortable with metrics and dashboards.


• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and change leadership skills.


• Proficient with Excel and common design/productivity tools; Adobe/Illustrator familiarity a plus.

Why Join o5 group

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits


• 401(k)


• Life insurance


• Paid time off and company holidays


• Commuter benefits


• Hybrid/flexible work schedule


• Collaborative, family-oriented culture


• Commitment to Responsibility & Sustainability