Sourcing & Production Manager

Founded in 2004, Rapha exists to inspire the world to live life by bike. We believe that cycling has the power to improve people’s lives but as well as enjoying it for what it is today, we are determined to change cycling and open it up to more people so that they too can discover the joys of riding a bike. 

As Rapha continues to evolve processes, refine ways of working, and build on the company strategy, a position has become available within the Sourcing & Production team, as a Sourcing & Production Manager.

The Sourcing & Production team at Rapha work towards the on-time delivery of product, to the highest quality, to the required cost, in line with business objectives. They are responsible for developing and maintaining excellent partnerships with tier one suppliers, and achieving measurable progress towards supply chain social and environmental sustainability goals. This is a central function which interacts with all aspects of the business, from Customer Services and Finance to Product Design, Marketing and category teams. This team sits within the broader Supply Chain & Sustainability function and this role reports to the Supply Chain & Sustainability Director.

THE ROLE

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with nominated suppliers; being the main contact for all sourcing, production, quality and sustainability related queries.
• Champion the values of the Rapha Global Supplier Engagement Programme
• Scope, benchmark and onboard suppliers for new product categories as well as working to improve performance of the current supply base as necessary, managing improvement plans and ethical exit programmes if needed.
• Manage annual forecasting and capacity planning for finished products to ensure availability of production space in accordance with the critical path and requested delivery phasing.
• Oversee supplier production work in progress (WIP) reports, prioritising effectively to balance supply and demand, feeding inputs into the weekly and monthly S&OP process.
• Identify ways to improve the internal communication process and enhance ways of working with commercial teams, whilst also guardrailing suppliers capacity requirements and supporting the purchasing practises improvement roadmap.
• Conduct risk assessments to identify potential sourcing & production issues during the product creation process and coordinate solutions with the category leads, escalating significant issues to Product Leadership and working to minimise any commercial impact.
• Manage finished product quality control and quality assurance processes, continuously improving ways of working to drive root cause analysis and reducing customer faulty returns.
• Manage product costing negotiations and value engineering to achieve target cost price and intake margins, troubleshooting and working with senior members of the cross functional product teams for resolution.
• Oversee the execution of our social and environmental supply chain sustainability goals by ensuring the accuracy and cadence of inputting audit data and the maintenance of supplier SER dashboards.
• Manage the analysis of SER dashboards, writing CAPs and partnering with suppliers and third parties to oversee and record the verification process.
• Support on ad hoc tasks in relation to supplier specific social and labour initiatives and environmental transition plans.
• Ensure consistency in PLM and ERP systems usage across the team, oversee PLM Superuser to update click guides and review process flow mapping with Product Operations.
• Coordinate attendance across the weekly category cross functional meetings, presenting key sourcing information at product range reviews; as well as regular meetings with commercial and logistics functions.
• Line management responsibility
• Travel to global suppliers and conferences as needed  (20% annually)

THE CANDIDATE

Candidates may possess the following skills. We're open to a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets which may fulfil the requirements in a similar way.

• Approximately 8 years experience in a similar role, preferably within the fashion or sportswear industry within a sourcing / production / supply chain role, preferably within the fashion or sportswear industry.
• Detail oriented with strong follow-through
• Strong analytical skills and numerical dexterity
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Excel and able to work with sizable amounts of data and learning various types of systems
• Proactive, dynamic interpersonal style, able to act between different departments in a diplomatic, non-confrontational manner
• An understanding of, or a desire to learn about the Rapha product range
• Equally comfortable working autonomously & responding to instructions
• An interest in active sports and a willingness to embrace a life by bike 

WORKING AT RAPHA

We are continuously looking into ways to invest in our employees and build a better working culture and environment. Here are just some of the internal benefits we offer. 

• Flexible working hours 
• Support ad-hoc remote working during the week  with a minimum 3 days in office
• Enhanced parental leave
• Free barista coffee and social drinks in the office
• Monthly department social events and quarterly office social away days
• We offer a flexible riding benefit to allow you to go out riding on a Wednesday morning with colleagues or learn to cycle to cycling through our Getting Started Scheme. 
• We offer all our employees a 50% apparel discount and a discount for family and friends 
• An annual clothing allowance 
• Free membership to the Rapha Cycling Club