Category Specialist, Apparel

Tecovas was founded with the simple goal of making the world’s best western boots, apparel and leather goods - and selling them at a fair price. We are a brand revolutionizing a category and welcoming first-time boot buyers and western enthusiasts alike. 

Tecovas is looking for a Category Specialist to directly support the growth and expansion of our business. As a Category Specialist at Tecovas, you will play a vital role in actively optimizing our supply chain for the Apparel category, ensuring efficient product flow from concept to customer. You will be responsible for identifying and collaborating with suppliers to enhance lead times, profit margins, and commercial terms. You will act as the focal point in the communication and relationship building and management with our selected manufacturing partners. 

This role is required to be based in Austin, TX. Candidates must either be currently located in or willing to relocate to Austin, TX.

What you’ll do:

•    Category Calendar Management:
•  Efficiently manage the category's calendar, ensuring timely communication to product development, production, and delivery.
• Set and adjust critical milestones to align with market demands and internal needs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to maintain a streamlined production schedule.
• Supplier Performance and Factory Scorecard Management:
• Actively monitor and enhance supplier performance by maintaining scorecards and KPIs.
• Regularly assess supplier performance against key indicators.
• Address performance issues by developing improvement plans and collaborating with suppliers to ensure continuous quality and efficiency enhancements.
• Efficiently manage the factory scorecard system to monitor and improve performance, making data-driven decisions to enhance the supply chain.
•  Supplier Sourcing and Evaluation:
• Identify and evaluate potential suppliers to improve lead times, cost-effectiveness, and commercial terms.
• Negotiate and implement favorable terms to improve cost efficiency.
• Continuously assess supplier capabilities and reliability to ensure smooth operations.
• Product Shipments:
•  Communicate XF dates to the product development team, ensuring alignment with production schedules.
• Oversee ship dates, monitor shipping procedures, and maintain compliance with all labeling, documentation, and systems requirements.
• Ensure purchase orders (POs) accurately reflect actual shipping details.
• Contracting::
• Work with the legal department to manage supplier contracts and agreements.
• Review and revise contracts to ensure alignment with changing business needs.
• Environmental, social, and corporate governance:
• Measure and report the level of compliance with ethical sourcing policies among suppliers.
• Collaborate with suppliers to ensure adherence to ethical sourcing guidelines.
• Identify and rectify any non-compliance issues with proactive solutions.
• Quality Oversight:
• Collaborate with third-party quality inspectors to ensure the best products are available to customers.
• Manage the performance of third-party quality inspectors and provide guidance for improvement.
• Ensure products meet quality standards and make necessary recommendations for enhancements.
• Continuous Enhancement:
• Have a growth mindset day in and day out.
• Seek opportunities for process improvement, cost reduction, and product quality enhancement.
• Analyze existing processes to identify inefficiencies and suggest improvements.
• Look for cost-saving initiatives, such as material alternatives or process optimizations.
• Collaborate closely with the product development team to enhance product quality.
• Act like an owner:
• Act as an advocate for the business within the supplier network, representing our interests.
• Engage with suppliers to ensure their understanding of our business needs.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and mutual growth.
• Convey business objectives and expectations to suppliers in a clear and professional manner.

Experience we’re looking for:

• Bachelor’s Degree in supply chain management, business, or a related field and 3+ years of experience in Apparel supply chain and production, preferably within a top-tier Apparel brand or private label Apparel Company.
• Prior experience as an analyst or senior analyst in supply chain, procurement, or sourcing.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Analytical mindset with an ability to identify non only cost-saving opportunities, but operating efficiencies holistically.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines.
• Bonus points for experience in implementing a PLM system, Apparel wholesale and managing both Agents and director manufacturers. 

What you bring to the table:

• You have a growth mindset
• You have an ‘operator’ mentality, looking for ways to improve the business and find efficiency.
• You have a strong attention to detail and the ability to follow through to completion.
• You have incredible project management skills with the ability to ensure project milestones are met according to commitments; you have the ability to manage and prioritize a wide variety of project types that vary in scope and scale
• You love working in a lean work environment and are able to work under pressure with deadlines.
• You bring knowledge of 3PL distribution, warehousing, and international fulfillment.
• You have knowledge of footwear construction
• You are a team player who maintains a positive and enthusiastic attitude.

Full Time Benefits & Perks: 

• We offer insurance plans that pay 79-90% of your health premium coverage and 100% of your dental & vision insurance coverage for your family/dependents
• Paid Parental Leave
• Flexible PTO policy
• Corporate wellness program
• Competitive salary
• Eligibility to participate in Corporate Bonus Program
• Generous employee discounts!

About Us:

Tecovas was born out of a love for cowboy boots, their time-honored craftsmanship, rich materials that last, and traditional styling that always looks good. Each pair of Tecovas boots is crafted by hand in over 200 steps. It’s not the easiest or cheapest method, but we’re committed to classic construction techniques that stand the test of time. With 32 retail stores (and counting) across the country, we’re bringing western goods into new frontiers and aim to be the most welcoming brand in western. We’re certainly growing- and hiring passionate, humble, positive, and talented people determined to help us continue to grow!

Important note: We strive to hire values-aligned people because we believe it takes each and all of us to be successful, and lead with grit, speed and a clear vision of where we’re headed. In a remote setting, interviewing at Tecovas may include phone interviews, virtual “on-site” interviews, and on-the-job mock cases. We are committed to run a thorough process for candidates with whom we identify a potential match, and we will do our best to follow-up with each and every applicant! If you’re on the fence, just give it a try! 

Hiring process and disclaimer: Should you receive an offer from us after going through the interview process, a background check will be conducted prior to onboarding. The results of a background check are evaluated as part of the hiring process, but this does not mean that you will not be considered for the job based upon the results. We are an equal opportunity employer and we encourage everyone to apply!