Sara Shillman: Product Development at Vuori | Former Brixton, ELECTRIC, Rip Curl in San Clemente, CA

Product Developer for Women’s woven tops + bottoms in Travel/Commute and Fitness categories, while managing a Junior Developer and overseeing the development of Women’s knit bottoms in the Fitness/Lounge category.

Product Developer for Women’s Performance and Lifestyle Wovens (Tops, Bottoms, Dresses and Hair Accessories).

Product Developer for Women’s Knit + Woven Shorts, Skirts, Dresses, Rompers and Jumpsuits.

Product Developer for Men’s Inline Knits + Women’s SMU assortment, while supporting Sr. Product Manager across all other Men’s inline apparel categories from tech pack hand-off through TOP stage. ※ Oversaw development of assigned categories, evaluating each stage against intended design and technical specs and deploying creative solutions to achieve final approved bulk product. ※ Requested and negotiated product costing with suppliers to achieve margin targets, and fostered vendor relationships through a partner-focused mindset. ※ Participated in weekly fittings, collaborating with Design, Merchandising and Technical Design teams to ensure categories met quality and fit expectations. ※ Illustrated and designed seasonal graphic packages for Women’s SMU printable assortment.

Managed the inline SMS and photo sample process through development to final delivery of samples to global sales force and internal teams. Primary contact for suppliers in regards to photo & SMS sampling through development phase. ※ Built and maintained seasonal sample buy plans for all product categories (including Men’s + Women’s apparel, headwear and accessories), communicated line changes daily with international suppliers, managed sample budgets and reporting, and owned logistics for global sample distribution. ※ Prepared seasonal sample lines on behalf of product team for brand marketing use: product imagery, PDP, catalog and seasonal campaigns. ※ Wrote and implemented complete SOP library specific to sample process and procedure for internal stakeholders. ※ Onboarded & trained Sample Coordinator and Seasonal Sample Assistants.

Sales operations specialist working cross-functionally with sales, finance, ops and production to deliver custom product assortments to our Key Account wholesale partners. ※ Maintained order book for 6+ Key Accounts, identifying and acting on areas of concern to maximize purchase order fulfillment. ※ Coordinated SMU projects through development to final production and delivery to Key Accounts. ※ Salesman sample management for KA line showings, PDP and marketing requests, and customer style-outs. ※ Additional support for field reps in the specialty retailer channel - order file audits, new account onboarding, credit and RA issues and seasonal selling tools.