Job Summary:
Richardson Sports is seeking a highly skilled Director of Product to lead product line management and development across various categories including headwear and apparel. This role involves overseeing the full product lifecycle, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and ensuring that products meet customer needs and brand standards.
Responsibilities:
• Lead product line management and product development across Richardson’s headwear, team uniform, apparel, and accessory categories, ensuring alignment with brand strategy, strict quality standards, customer needs, market trends, and financial goals.
• Lead, coach, and develop a small, agile product team, fostering accountability, collaboration, and professional growth while keeping a hands-on, high-performance culture.
• Develop and manage seasonal and annual product strategies, including assortment architecture, product positioning, pricing recommendations, margin targets, lifecycle planning, and go-to-market priorities.
• Oversee the full product development process from concept through commercialization, including product briefs, material selection, fit, construction, decoration methods, prototypes, samples, testing, costing, and final approvals.
• Partner with cross-functional teams and vendors to ensure product lines are commercially relevant, technically sound, operationally feasible, and delivered on time.
• Monitor market trends, competitive activity, consumer preferences, team sports needs, decoration capabilities, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for product innovation and line improvement.
• Manage product calendars, development timelines, sample review processes, and key milestone meetings to ensure disciplined execution from concept to launch.
• Collaborate with sourcing and supply chain teams to evaluate vendor capabilities, product quality, cost structure, lead times, material availability, and production feasibility.
• Use sales data, margin analysis, inventory performance, customer insights, and market feedback to make informed recommendations regarding product additions, updates, discontinuations, and long-term category strategy.
• Ensure all products meet Richardson’s high standards for quality, fit, performance, compliance, brand consistency, and customer expectations across all product offerings.
Qualifications:
Required:
• Bachelor’s degree in Product Development, Merchandising, Business, Fashion Design, or other related field; equivalent industry experience will also be considered.
• 8+ years of progressive product line management, product development, merchandising, or related experience within the headwear or apparel industry.
• Leadership experience managing a product team, cross-functional initiatives, development calendars, vendor relationships, and multi-category product lines.
• Strong technical understanding of headwear and/or apparel development, including materials, trims, construction methods, fit, sizing, decoration techniques, costing, sampling, testing, and production processes.
• Demonstrated ability to combine commercial product strategy with hands-on development expertise, including experience translating market opportunities into profitable, manufacturable products.
• Proven experience using data, market research, consumer insights, and financial metrics to guide product decisions, assortment planning, pricing, margin management, and lifecycle strategy.
Company:
Founded in 1970, Richardson creates high-quality headwear and apparel for teams, retailers, brands, and businesses seeking unbeatable service, renowned craftsmanship, and innovative products. Founded in 1970, the company is headquartered in Springfield, USA, with a team of 201-500 employees. The company is currently Growth Stage.
