GENERAL FUNCTION
The Senior Materials Sourcing Manager facilitates the critical relationship between Wolverine Worldwide brands, sourcing groups and shoe factories, and external approved material vendors. Responsible for the management of all aspects of shoe upper and lining materials for Wolverine brand groups including but not limited to: development, quality, compliance, price and general quality tools to assure on-time delivery for both development and production materials.
PRIMARY DUTIES
- Co-ordinate development & replacement leathers between supplier, factory & brand/product development teams as needed.
- Support Quality Assurance & manufacturing functions to supervise quality control of ls in production. Oversee quality claim solutions between brand, factory & supplier as necessary. Responsible for ensuring all materials are fit for purpose.
- Build strong partnerships with preferred supply base to ensure best capacity, delivery, lead time & consistent quality is achieved in sample & production shipments.
- Support Materials VP to negotiate preferable pricing, delivery & MOQ terms.
- Responsible for issuing, upholding, & training on various procedural & material quality protocols & standards, including SATRA leather grading & color standards.
- Ensure that all standard protocols are delivered on time to serve brand T1 timelines.
- Oversee leather color library to be well maintained, regularly updated & operating efficiently.
- Support Coordination & Planning Operations team (CPO) to achieve on time in full delivery of samples & production orders.
- Support Product Integrity team to update & maintain Partner Insight system for supply base.
- Oversee on-boarding process for new suppliers, including leading vendor compliance audits, & quality assessment.
- Ensure annual scorecards & profiles are completed accurately and on time for assigned vendors.
- Responsible for the leadership, management and development of a team of direct reports, building a pipeline of talent for the Leather and Non-Leather Materials team.
- Assist Materials VP to drive team projects & training programs that support the strategic and tactical initiatives of the company and business unit.
- Perform other duties as required/assigned by Materials VP.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED
- 6+ yrs experience in footwear materials, footwear manufacturing or related industries.
- Working knowledge of Leather Manufacturing. Bovine & Pigskin preferred.
- Working knowledge of SATRA quality systems and testing methods.
- Able to work independently & make decisions that drive results and project completion.
- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
- Excellent communication skills, with ability to communicate at all levels of the organization & with both internal and external partners & customers.
- Must be fluent in written & spoken English. Spoken Chinese is also preferred.
- Strong organizational & negotiating skills.
- Computer literate, MS Office applications and MS Outlook.
- Knowledge of Restricted Substance Legislation preferred.
WORKING CONDITIONS
- Based at one of the Wolverine offices situated in factory environment (as assigned).
- Approx. 40% of time requires travel to local factories/suppliers/material fairs as needed.
- Foreign travel will be required.
