Director of Product Operations & PLM Systems

Alice and Olivia; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Not specified

Job summary

Alice + Olivia is seeking a Director of Product Operations & PLM Systems to own the end-to-end product development and production processes and the platforms that drive them. This role is an operations-led leadership position in New York with responsibility for PLM and data governance across design, manufacturing, sourcing and costing teams.

You will partner with the SVP of Product Development & Production to transform tribal knowledge into documented, adopted workflows and SOPs, and to ensure

Qualifications

• 10+ years in apparel product development, production or product operations with process ownership across multiple functions.
• Track record designing and implementing operational processes in a product organization.
• Deep knowledge of apparel production practices and working production environments.
• Fluency in apparel lifecycle: line planning, tech packs, grading, costing, sourcing handoff, release.
• Hands-on ownership of an enterprise PLM platform with process depth.
• Experience integrating PLM with ERP and master data governance.
• Knowledge of CLO3D or similar 3D design tools and data relationships.
• Ability to write BRs for vendors and technical teams without translation.
• Proven change-management experience across reluctant teams.
• Capacity to act as a senior leader's proxy in critical decisions.
• Experience in contemporary or luxury fashion with a compressed calendar.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end process design across the product org against the seasonal calendar.
• Serve as operational right hand to the SVP, representing product in cross-functional decisions.
• Define milestones and gate criteria for visible season readiness.
• Diagnose gaps and fix training, process or system issues accordingly.
• Map downstream impact of changes and design seamless handoffs between teams.
• Design processes for costing, sourcing and supply chain coverage.
• Lead change management with clear ownership and training materials.
• Own documentation, SOPs and training to keep process knowable and current.
• Lead cross-functional expert network and drive items to decisions with named owners.
• Own PLM platform end-to-end: config, taxonomy, templates, workflows, and governance.

Skills

Operations leadership

PLM systems

Cross-functional collaboration

Change management

Data governance

ERP integration

3D design data

Sourcing & costing

Vendor management

Seasonal calendar

Tools

Lectra Kubix Link

Job description

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT OPERATIONS & PLM SYSTEMS

Position Summary:

ALICE + OLIVIA is seeking a Director of Product Operations & PLM Systems to own the business process by which our product is developed and produced, and the platforms that process runs on. This is an operations role first. You will own the end-to-end business process across product development, production, technical design, patternmaking, fabric, trims, costing and grading, and you will own the systems that process runs on.

You will work as the right hand to our SVP of Product Development & Production, acting as a trusted proxy across a large product organization and turning how we work from tribal knowledge into defined, documented, adopted processes.

Process and platform are inseparable here. You will own our PLM platform outright and shape how process flows into the other systems in our product lifecycle. We are past implementation and into the harder part: making all of it genuinely useful to the people who live in it every day.

Key Responsibilities:

Process

• Own end-to-end process design across the product organization, defining who does what, when, and in what sequence against the seasonal calendar.
• Serve as the operational right hand to the SVP of Product Development & Production, representing the product organization in cross-functional decisions and carrying them through to execution.
• Define calendar milestones and gate criteria so season readiness is visible and managed, rather than reconstructed after the fact.
• Diagnose whether a breakdown is a training gap, a process gap or a system gap, and fix the right one instead of defaulting to a system request.
• Map the downstream impact of process changes before they are made, and design the handoffs between teams so work does not stall at the seams.
• Design process to cover the ground our platforms do not reach, including costing, sourcing and supply chain.
• Bring a clear point of view on how our processes should improve, then lead the change management to make it stick.
• Own the documentation, standard operating procedures and training that make process knowable, and keep them current.
• Lead our cross-functional expert network, driving open items to decisions with named owners rather than letting them accumulate.

Platforms

• Own our PLM platform end to end, including configuration, taxonomy, templates, workflow design, user roles and release management.
• Partner with IT to determine which system is the source of truth for which data, and define the rules teams follow when records span platforms.
• Author business requirements and functional specifications directly, and manage our software vendors on scope, estimates and delivery.
• Evaluate customization and enhancement requests against roadmap and cost, and sequence the work that matters.
• Own data governance and the health of integrations with downstream systems, so issues are caught before they compound across a season.

Qualifications:

• 10 or more years in apparel product development, production or product operations, with a product development foundation and responsibility for process across multiple functions.
• A track record of designing and implementing operational process in a product organization, not only participating in it.
• Deep knowledge of apparel production best practices, and a demonstrated ability to implement them in a working production environment.
• Deep fluency in the apparel product lifecycle, including line planning, tech packs, fitting sessions, grading, costing, sourcing handoff and production release.
• Hands‑on ownership or administration of an enterprise PLM platform, not solely end‑user experience. A traditional IT background is not required; process depth paired with real system ownership is what matters.
• Experience where PLM is integrated with ERP and other downstream systems, including master data governance, and the ability to reason through what happens to a record that exists in two systems at once.
• Working knowledge of 3D design tooling such as CLO3D and how it intersects with pattern and specification data.
• Experience writing business requirements that vendors and technical teams can build against without translation.
• Hands‑on change management experience across teams that did not want to change how they work, including crafting the plan, implementing it, and managing the cultural change that comes with it.
• The judgment and presence to operate as a senior leader's proxy in rooms where decisions get made.
• Experience in a contemporary or luxury fashion environment operating on a compressed seasonal calendar.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Lectra Kubix Link specifically.
• Exposure to vendor or supplier portal implementations.
• Familiarity with the planning and ERP platforms that sit adjacent to PLM in a product lifecycle.
• Experience managing software vendors through contract, scope, and delivery negotiation.
• Experience building training programs for non-technical users across a large organization.

$150,000 - $175,000 base salary (This range represents the low and high end of the anticipated base salary range for this NY - based position. The base salary will depend on numerous factors such as: experience and qualifications for the role, experience level, skillset, and balancing internal equity relative to other AO employees.)