Established in 1981, GUESS began as a jeans company and has since successfully grown into a global lifestyle brand. Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes and licenses a lifestyle collection of contemporary apparel, denim, handbags, watches, eyewear, footwear and other related consumer products.

Guess? products are distributed through branded Guess? stores as well as better department and specialty stores around the world.

As of January 30, 2021, the Company directly operated 1,046 retail stores in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

The Company’s partners and distributors operated 524 additional retail stores worldwide.

As of January 30, 2021, the Company and its partners and distributors operated in approximately 100 countries worldwide. For more information about the Company, please visit www.guess.com.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB:

Reporting directly to the Sourcing & Procurement Senior Director, the Sourcing & Quality Manager will ensure the best buying conditions for the assigned product division, by negotiating with suppliers.

The Sourcing & Quality Manager is responsible for sourcing and managing new vendors and suppliers.

He/she will be also able to perform strategic procurement activities across multiple categories of spend, search for better deals and find more profitable suppliers.

He/She will deal with a series of technical activities to measure and control the quality of the incoming goods. The role will design the routines and the checks to ensure quality to the final consumer and He/She will also handle claims versus the suppliers.

He/She is responsible for sourcing and buying the best quality equipment, goods and services at the most competitive prices to enable a company or organization to operate.

His/her main responsibilities are:

• Build and maintenance a strong supplier base
• Final costing & production lead time negotiation
• Achieve sustainable targets
• Improve Margins
• Social Compliance Standards
• Margin improvement
• Cross costing
• Vendor scouting & selection
• Coordinate and support the purchasing activities and team
• Manage planned system in order to implement the general quality guidelines
• Provide guidance to prepare the quality plans for the control of new collections.

CORE JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

SOURCING

• Responsible to maximize the company’s margin, by keeping standards in delivery and quality
• Generate and implement efficient sourcing and category management strategies
• Analyze and calculate costs of procurement and suggest methods to decrease expenditure
• Invent negotiation strategies and secure profitable deals
• Optimize sourcing procedures to attain maximum efficiency
• Must operate within the strategic framework of the Global Supply Chain in terms of direction, global collaboration, and teamwork.
• Participate in global teams to provide procedural consistency and exchange best practices
• Contributes to driving the disciplines of the Master Calendar
• Perform cost and scenario analysis, and benchmarking
• Perform annual analyses to evaluate overall cost savings after implementation of new strategies.
• Build external partnerships, including vendor development and evaluation with objective rating systems.
• Must maintain effective and consistent communication protocol and procedures for all business practices.
• Ensure that all practices are consistent with industry guidelines and regulations.
• Provides support on problem-solving for any issues, when necessary.
• Estimate risks and apply risk minimizing techniques
• Teamwork with Product development for product allocation, counter sourcing, and product cost efficiency
• Provides support to our Design, R&D, Graphic, and Buying departments, making sure everyone is informed about key issues or challenges.
• Operates in the most cost-efficient manner, without sacrificing any service to the needs of our business.
• Working with system data on actual purchases, identifying value opportunities, developing tactical and strategic plans to capture value, aligning with partner strategies, and negotiating and implementing supply agreements.
  • Management of pattern book costs and the production costs (Accessories & Footwear)
  • Manage MOQ & Lead Time of production
  • Data Entry on AS400 (for pattern book and production)
  • Manage the suppliers on AS400

QUALITY

Lead and coordinate the following activities:

• Incoming Inspection procedures and sampling and respective reports.
• Raising of non-conformance against inspected products and forwarded to suppliers, product department, and production coordinator for a claim.
• Raising of non-conformance for out-of-tolerance rolls and forwarded to product department.
• Maintain up-to-date copies of all the alterations or amendments in discussion with the product department.
• Monitor and record of processing of all samples, swatches, etc.
• Customer returns in conjunction with the Customer Service and production coordinators
• Continually assess supplier quality and report details

MANAGING VENDORS & SUPPLIERS

• Identify suppliers capable of meeting Guess's requirements, develop pricing that is consistent with Guess's requirements, and maintain communication with the internal clients.
• Discover and partner with trustworthy vendors and suppliers
• Ensure the best buying conditions for the assigned product division, by negotiating with suppliers
• Manage the company’s supply portfolio ensuring transparency of spending
• Research and anticipate shifts in the negotiating power of suppliers
• Re-negotiating vendor contracts to favor the company.
• Provide management support for facilities.
• Liaise between suppliers, manufacturers, relevant internal departments, and customers
• Build and maintain good relationships with new and existing suppliers
• Negotiate and agree on contracts, monitoring the quality of service provided
• Process payments and invoices
• Evaluate bids and make recommendations, based on commercial and technical factors
• Cooperate with stakeholders to guarantee agreement on terms and processes
• Determine quantity and timing of deliveries

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management or related field
• At least 5/8 years experience in a similar role and field (FASHION SOURCING)
• Strong knowledge of supply chain management required
• Has detailed knowledge about different product categories and manufacturing processes
• Understands several product categories, including construction, cost, standards and execution
• Strong negotiation skills and deep vendor management knowledge
• Solid judgment along with decision making skills
• Must have the highest ethical and moral standards, upholding the values of Guess?
• Excellent analytical and communications skills
• Must possess strong leadership skills and be well organized, self-motivated, focused on meeting deadlines, and able to multitask within a fast-paced environment
• Sense of ownership and pride in the performance and its impact on company’s success
• Capability to work under strict, short deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally across various business units
• Ability to effortlessly engage with senior Guess management, business unit leaders, and our vendor community
• General knowledge of Guess products offered across different lines and categories will be considered a plus
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with both internal and external customers
• Must be very fluent and articulate in English language. Any Other language will be considered a plus.
• Proficient with MS Office programs, primarily Excel, and prior ERP system experience
• Data Entry on AS400 (for pattern book and production)