Come be a slice of our small team & contribute directly to the development of our growing product range.

Do you thrive in a fun but flexible small company environment? At the James Brand, we believe in working hard, playing even harder, and that if you are on our team, it's because you can handle both individual freedom and accountability. We started this business because we wanted to build a brand with our friends and collaborators. Is that you? Could you be James? Your ability to communicate openly and clearly is tantamount to your success because it's tantamount to ours. Tolerance for ambiguity is an asset, too, as we are small, growing, and ever adapting to our global consumers' needs.

We are focused on the growth and development of our team, as our team is our company. When you get better, we get better. That’s what we’re here for. It's not always sunshine and rainbows; we always believe in frank and honest communication, even when it's not positive. You'll get used to it, and you'll never goback to soft-pedaling BS ever again.

In this role, you'll manage workflow to ensure the timely execution and commercialization of products. You'll ensure appropriate documentation, anticipate problems, facilitate problem solving and address issues in a timely manner. You'll communicate with factories and suppliers and other product team members or others to ensure a smooth product development process. You'll also analyze manufacturing capabilities. You'll understand the risks of your decisions and how they affect the production process. You'll create and revise Bill of Materials and CMFdocumentation for assigned products. You'll ensure prototypes accurately reflect construction specifications. You will coordinate with factory-based engineers, in-house and external industrial design resources, as well as material suppliers, QA and raw material suppliers in critiquing prototypes and other submits as needed.

Immediate Functions:

• Product Development from CAD design into 3D prototypes and sales samples.

• Work closely with Design to create finished samples, ready to buy.

• Review and analyze product costing information

• Focus on margin improvement

• Develop strong collaboration with vendors foreign and domestic.

• Process Driven from line plan to sample to go to market.

• Develop and track quality assurance and field testing

• Solicit product feedback from brand ambassadors, team athletes as well as internal staff.

• Develop and implement product development processes and improvements that leverage TJB's strengths & competitive advantages.

• Adhere closely to TJB Product Development timeline.

The ideal candidate for us would have:

• 5+ years of hardgoods product development experience

• 5+ years of experience working in Adobe Illustrator & Excel/Google Sheets.

• Consumer Goods focused and market driven.

• Past experiences developing technical, hardgoods products with factories overseas.

• Zest for start-up life and wearing lots of hats.

• Strong organizational, interpersonal and negotiation skills.

• Project management & timeline management skills.

• Proven, successful track record of taking product development from start to finish, on-time.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Willing to roll-up the sleeves and do whatever is needed to bring a product to market, on time, in full and accurate.

• Aptitude for defining and refining the product development process

• Not color blind even though black is our #1 selling color.

• Desire to build and be a part of a great team.

• Experience with industrial design, designers or working in a design-led company.

• 3 insane references who would hire you back, stat.

•1 go-to semi-dirty joke.

• 1 secret handshake.

• Must be able to travel internationally.

DEVELOPMENT

• Work together with Product Director and Designers to fully understand product intent.

• Review and oversee issuance of all product specs (BOMs/tech packs) for accuracy, completeness, quality, affordability, profitability and compliance prior to release.

• Recommends enhancements, construction and material options to elevate our brand, hitting financial requirements.

• Resolves engineering that does not meet design, merchandising, production or financial needs.

• Coordinates with manufacturing partners and cross-functional teams to manage spec turnover within calendar to ensure timeliness in proto-turns, SMS, and confirmation samples.

• Manages the handover of clean specs to manufacturing partners on behalf of design; communicates daily with overseas offices and direct suppliers on questions and changes to specs, standards; assists in interpreting design needs.

• Review all prototypes and samples to ensure accurate execution to specs. Maintains record of development feedback at each stage of development.

• Monitors, tracks and reports on all requested prototypes.

• Helps to maintain all brand standards ensuring consistency from product to product.

• Schedules, and tracks all confirmation samples to ensure exact execution of final design; reviews and approves all colors and materials, addressing variances with vendors and Merch team.

SAMPLES

• Manage the sampling process with the Product Director & Production Manager and TJB team.

• Stage prototype review sessions with the leadership team.

• Make go/no-go decisions with the leadership team based on samples, calendar and pricing.

• Develop an in-field and in-lab evaluation plan for prototypes.

LOCATION

• This role is based at our office in downtown Portland, OR.

• This role is not hybrid or remote. This is an in-office role. We are a small team, collaborating deeply each day and our products are tangible things that we need to interact with in-person.

To apply, please email your cover letter and resume by following this link. We’ll check it out, and get back to you promptly if there’s a good fit.