About Us:
Short Story is an award winning, technology-powered retailer dedicated to petite women 5'4" and under. Our mission is to create a seamless shopping experience for millions of petite women so they can dress with effortless confidence. As a fast-growing startup, we're revolutionizing retail with a data-driven learning system that leverages customer feedback to create exceptional, tailored products. We've been recognized by top publications like Forbes, Fortune and are backed by top institutional investors who share our vision of building the world's next great consumer brand.
At Short Story, we celebrate petiteness, boldness, and modern womanhood. Our culture combines an insatiable hunger for data, an unwavering commitment to creating superior products, and a hustle startup mentality. We have a strong sense of urgency. Since 2019, we've cultivated a team of dedicated problem solvers and fashion enthusiasts. We're excited for you to join us on this exhilarating journey.
The Role:
The Senior Manager of Technical Design will lead our growing team of technical designers and drive the development of market-leading petite fashion. Using data and technology along with craft and talent, this role will innovate our technical design and product creation processes. This role is about setting standards, refining fit and quality metrics, building a team of sterling experts and making our workflows the most efficient they can be. Collaborating closely with different teams and with vendors, this role will shape product strategies that strengthen Short Story’s foothold as the market leader of fit and quality in Petite fashion. Talent development and transparent communication are integral to leadership, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration across the organization.
Your Responsibilities:
- Lead the growing Technical Design team at Story Story, specializing in petite fit expertise.
- Establish processes to maintain Short Story’s industry-leading position in fit and quality.
- Educate and coach the Technical Design team to enhance their skills and knowledge.
- Evaluate and stabilize processes and tools in order to execute product strategies efficiently (from fit blocks and grade rules to WIP and tech pack excellence).
- Drive innovation in our technical design work, establishing best in class tools and resources to execute against product vision.
- Streamline development process, ultimately driving speed, bandwidth and accuracy; build processes that are easily scaled.
- Champion for product excellence in fit and quality; delivering products that delight clients (in fit, style and quality).
- Hold internal and external partners accountable for excellence across all fit and quality metrics.
- Partner with vendors to ensure products meet fit goals and quality standards in bulk production.
- Partner with product development and merchandising to achieve process and performance goals.
- Foster strong vendor co-creation partnerships with processes and clear standards that are both client-centric and efficient.
- Introduce innovation and leverage supplier expertise to build upon fit and product creation technologies (and tech at source capabilities).
- Leverage internal data and external data to strengthen the technical design process; combining insights to inform technical decision making.
- Prioritize talent development, always making time to consistently coach and provide transparent feedback.
- Partner with the Head of Product Development and Sourcing to evolve team structure, ways of working, external partnerships, etc., enabling accelerated growth.
Your Qualifications:
- BA or BS preferred.
- 12+ years of experience in technical design and product development within Women’s apparel.
- 8 years of management experience, setting strategies and leading teams.
- Experience in Petites technical design is required.
- Considered to be an expert on the product creation lifecycle, specifically in fit and patternmaking
- Passionate about developing your team’s knowledge and skillset in fit, patternmaking, quality and overall product knowledge.
- This role is onsite at our San Francisco Office, full time.
- You may be able to travel (domestically and internationally).
Who You Are:
- You have a growth mindset.
- You are a process architect and demonstrated success leading teams through times of significant change.
- You are a strategic problem solver - situational analysis, scenario planning, weighing risk/reward, AB testing, evaluating. taking action, and open to iteration.
- You have a strong aptitude for data, metrics, reporting and analysis.
- You value vendor partnerships and have ironclad industry relationships
- You are never satisfied with average and are known to look for ways to improve/innovate to maximize team’s impact & effectiveness.
- You can operate comfortably and lead your team through ambiguity and change.
- You are a clear and influential communicator with both internal & external partners.
- You are an excellent identifier and developer of talent, to ensure your team has the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of an evolving business.
Benefits:
- Attractive early stage compensation package with an annual salary range of $100-125K and equity
- Flexible PTO
- 401k with company match
- Employee discount on merchandise
- Healthcare, dental and vision benefits
- Opportunity to work with a dedicated and experienced founding team
- Opportunity to work at a Y-Combinator backed startup
- Catered lunch on Fridays and company events
