Director, Color Material and Finish Development

About us: Stanley - Built for Life® since 1913. 

Stanley 1913 has fueled the human experience since the iconic Stanley vacuum bottle revolutionized the way people enjoyed food and beverage. Today, our colorful and thoughtfully designed products including the popular QuencherTM series go beyond function, elevating everyday moments with style and empowering active lifestyles. We’re a community of creators, builders and inventors who believe in creating sustainable products for a better life and world that minimize our impact on the planet. Learn more at www.stanley1913.com. 

Position Overview 

We are seeking a Director to lead all aspects of Color, Material, and Finish, guiding and rapidly growing efforts in developing and integrating global strategies. As the Director, CMF, you will drive operational excellence, consistency, and innovation while ensuring regulatory compliance and alignment with brand identity, manufacturability, and sustainability priorities. This role leads cross-functional partnerships and orchestrates process optimization to enable efficiency, quality, and timely delivery across all programs.  

What You'll Do 

• Develop the vision and strategy for the appearance and feel of hard goods, in accordance with brand strategy, market trends, and company goals.
• Establish enterprise-wide standards, governance frameworks, and tools to ensure scalability and global consistency.
• Collaborate with Innovation and Materials teams to discover, validate, and bring to market new materials, coatings, and finish technologies that improve sustainability and product distinctiveness.
• Build, develop, and encourage a high-performing team, encouraging accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
• Lead long-range planning and prioritization to balance creative exploration with executional excellence and speed to market.
• Lead all aspects of the full operational lifecycle of color and finish development, from standardization of design palette through development, supplier briefing, to commercialization through sampling, validation, production readiness, and final approval.
• Implement process improvements and digital tools to enhance workflow efficiency, documentation accuracy, and cross-functional visibility.
• Partner with Sourcing to drive vendor performance management through developer-led metrics, audits, and feedback loops to ensure adherence to quality, cost, and delivery expectations.
• Establish and lead all aspects of critical metrics for development timelines, cost efficiencies, and compliance performance across the portfolio.
• Lead and report on development progress, including development sample status, item setup, and communications to key partners on status. \
• Ensure all CMF programs meet aesthetic, functional, and regulatory standards, including global food safety and chemical compliance requirements.  

Who You Are 

• Ability to partner with Design, Brand, and Product Management leadership to translate creative direction into scalable, manufacturable color and finish solutions.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Quality, and Compliance to ensure materials and coatings meet performance, durability, and regulatory requirements.
• Engage with Sourcing, Supplier Quality, and Operations teams to identify and develop vendor capabilities, lead capacity planning, and mitigate production risks.
• Serve as the key liaison between internal creative intent and external manufacturing execution, ensuring clarity, consistency, and excellence at every development stage. 
• Deep expertise in color theory, pigment formulation, and surface finishing techniques (rotary printing, powder coating, anodizing, hydro graphics, etc.) across multiple substrates (stainless steel, plastics, soft goods, etc.).
• Validated experience leading global operations or development teams, with a focus on process design, system implementation, and organizational scalability.
• Proficiency in color evaluation and digital specification tools (spectrophotometer, lightbox, digital color libraries) and PLM systems for workflow and data management.
• Strong understanding of international regulatory frameworks (FDA, EFSA, REACH, Prop 65) and sustainability standards related to coatings, materials, and manufacturing.
• Strategic approach that effectively balances creative intent, manufacturability, and business objectives.
• Exceptional organizational, project management, and communication with the ability to drive clarity, and execution across multiple concurrent programs.
• Proven success in leading cross-functional teams, influencing without authority, and driving transformation in a fast-paced global environment. 

Stanley is committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. Stanley is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please reach out to recruiting@stanley1913.com. 

Stanley is a total rewards company, which includes rewards beyond base salary. At Stanley, full-time employees are eligible for an annual bonus, based on company and individual results. In addition, we offer a variety of employee benefits, personalized time off, 14-Paid holidays, dental, vision, 401(k), and much more.

About our parent company: Morgan Street Holdings   

Stanley 1913 is part of Morgan Street Holdings (formerly HAVI), a privately owned enterprise with a diverse portfolio of operating companies. These include HAVI Supply Chain, tms, Stanley 1913, and Continental, which provide best-in-class sourcing and supply chain capabilities, brand-defining marketing and promotion services, innovative consumer products, and dining and refreshment food solutions. Morgan Street Holdings employs over 10,000 people and serves 300+ customers across the globe. 

Morgan Street Holdings supports Stanley 1913 with competitive pay and benefits, along with exposure to diverse industries and professional networking and development opportunities.