Sourcing Specialist - Women's Apparel

Soft Surroundings; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

PTO and holidays

Sick time off

Job summary

Soft Surroundings is seeking a Global Sourcing Specialist to own end-to-end development and sourcing for assigned styles or programs. This hands-on role negotiates costs, manages vendors, and ensures production readiness while aligning with business targets.

The ideal candidate has 6+ years in global sourcing, strong analytical and negotiation skills, leadership, fluent English, and proficiency with MS Office; PLM experience is a plus.

Qualifications

• Minimum 6+ years of Global Sourcing experience.
• Strong analytical, negotiating and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrates leadership and decision-making skills.
• Strong listening, written and oral communication skills.
• Proficient in MS Office, especially Excel; PLM experience is a plus.
• Detail-oriented and highly organized with ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Fluent in English.

Responsibilities

• Own development and sourcing execution for assigned styles or programs from concept through production readiness.
• Drive development decisions related to materials, construction, cost, and feasibility with cross-functional teams.
• Manage development timelines and proactively address risks to protect delivery, cost, and quality.
• Lead vendor and agent communication for development, costing, and execution follow-through.
• Negotiate costs within approved targets and sourcing strategies.
• Select and manage vendors capable of meeting quality, cost, and delivery requirements.
• Identify opportunities to consolidate fabrics or factories to improve cost, efficiency, and execution consistency.
• Reduce rework, delays, and downstream risk through strong development oversight.
• Act as a subject-matter expert within assigned categories.
• Support Managers through strong execution, issue resolution, and development insight.

Skills

Analytical skills

Negotiation

Problem-solving

Leadership

Communication skills

MS Excel

MS Office

English fluency

PLM

Tools

PLM

Job description

Be your best self join the team at Soft Surroundings!

We believe that every woman at every stage should look and feel her very best.

At Soft Surroundings, we have many exciting and rewarding career opportunities at all levels. We're an omnichannel retailer serving customers online and through our catalogs. Together with our talented team, we continue building on our rich history of unique style and outstanding customer service.

Benefits and perks:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance on the first of the month following start date
• Generous PTO, paid holidays, and sick time off

Role Summary

The Global Sourcing Specialist owns endtoend development and sourcing execution for assigned styles or programs within specific product categories. This is a highly handson role responsible for driving development decisions, negotiating costs, managing vendors, and ensuring product is productionready and aligned to business targets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own development and sourcing execution for assigned styles or programs from concept through production readiness.
• Drive development decisions related to materials, construction, cost, and feasibility in partnership with crossfunctional teams.
• Manage development timelines and proactively address risks to protect delivery, cost, and quality.
• Lead vendor and agent communication for development, costing, and execution follow-through.
• Negotiate costs within approved targets and sourcing strategies.
• Select and manage vendors capable of meeting quality, cost, and delivery requirements.

Execution Optimization

• Identify opportunities to consolidate fabrics or factories to improve cost, efficiency, and execution consistency.
• Reduce rework, delays, and downstream risk through strong development oversight.
• Act as a subjectmatter expert within assigned categories.
• Support Managers through strong execution, issue resolution, and development insight.

Scope & Ownership

• Full ownership of assigned programs
• High independence and accountability
• Escalates highimpact or strategic decisions requiring leadership alignment
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Candidate must have a minimum of 6+ years' Global Sourcing experience
• Demonstrate strong analytical, negotiating and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrates leadership and decision-making skills
• Demonstrates strong listening, written and oral communication skills
• Proficient in using MS Office applications, especially Microsoft Excel. PLM experience is a plus
• Detail-oriented and highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
• Effective interpersonal skills to establish and maintain collaborative work relationships at all levels within the organization
• Must be able to read, write and speak English fluently