The Director of Blank Inventory & Procurement is responsible for developing and executing the inventory and purchasing strategy for blank apparel and production supplies supporting a high-volume Print-on-Demand (POD) operation.
This leader will use historical sales, current demand, customer forecasts, product trends, seasonality, and production requirements to determine future blank apparel needs and ensure the business maintains the appropriate inventory by style, color, and size. The Director will manage purchasing from both domestic and international suppliers while balancing product availability, inventory investment, lead times, cost, and service levels.
In addition to blank apparel, this role will oversee procurement and inventory planning for production and packaging supplies, including boxes, poly bags, hang tags, labels, tape, ink, print consumables, and other materials required to support uninterrupted production. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and inventory-planning capabilities with sourcing, purchasing, supplier management, and operational leadership experience.
What You'll Do- Blank Apparel Inventory Planning & Forecasting
- Analyze historical sales, demand trends, seasonality, customer forecasts, and future business opportunities to develop blank apparel purchasing plans.
- Build forecasts and inventory requirements at the style, color, and size level.
- Establish appropriate inventory targets, safety stock levels, reorder points, and purchasing strategies.
- Translate sales forecasts into actionable domestic and international purchase plans for garments and supplies.
- International territories include Asia and Mexico.
- Partner with Sales, Merchandising, Finance, and Production to anticipate changes in demand and inventory requirements.
- Identify potential inventory shortages early and develop solutions to protect customer service and production.
- Monitor forecast accuracy and continuously improve demand-planning methodologies.
- Manage inventory to achieve targeted service levels while minimizing excess and obsolete inventory.
- Purchasing & Supplier Management
- Lead purchasing of blank apparel from domestic and international suppliers.
- Develop purchasing strategies based on demand, supplier lead times, MOQs, pricing, and inventory requirements.
- Manage supplier relationships and hold vendors accountable for cost, quality, delivery, and service.
- Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, MOQs, freight arrangements, and other commercial terms.
- Evaluate existing and potential suppliers to improve cost, reliability, flexibility, and speed to market.
- Manage long-lead-time international purchasing while maintaining the flexibility required for a fast-moving POD business.
- Monitor open purchase orders and proactively address late deliveries, shortages, quality issues, and changing demand.
- Production & Packaging Supply Procurement
- Own purchasing and inventory management for materials required to support print production and fulfillment.
- Categories may include:
- Corrugated boxes and shipping materials.
- Poly bags and packaging.
- Hang tags and labels.
- Tape and adhesives.
- Printing inks.
- Print-production consumables.
- Office and warehouse supplies.
- Other materials required for production and fulfillment.
- Establish minimum/maximum inventory levels and reorder points for critical production supplies.
- Ensure adequate supply availability to prevent production downtime while avoiding unnecessary inventory investment.
- Develop secondary and backup suppliers for critical materials to reduce supply-chain risk.
- Inventory Management & Optimization
- Own blank inventory health and establish KPIs for availability, turns, weeks of supply, excess inventory, aged inventory, stockouts, and inventory accuracy.
- Identify slow-moving, excess, and obsolete inventory and partner with Sales, Merchandising, and Finance on disposition strategies.
- Develop strategies to improve inventory turns and working-capital efficiency without negatively affecting customer service.
- Regularly review inventory by SKU, category, supplier, and customer demand profile.
- Develop reporting and dashboards that provide leadership with visibility into inventory position, future purchasing requirements, risks, and opportunities.
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Serve as the primary inventory and procurement partner to Production, Sales, Merchandising, Finance, and Warehouse
- Participate in sales and operations planning to align future demand with inventory and production capacity.
- Communicate inventory risks and purchasing requirements clearly to senior leadership.
- Partner with Production to understand upcoming print volumes and ensure blanks and consumables are available when needed.
- Work with Finance to develop inventory budgets, purchasing forecasts, cash-flow requirements, and working-capital targets.
- Team Leadership
- Lead, develop, and hold accountable the inventory planning and purchasing organization.
- Establish clear responsibilities, processes, KPIs, and performance expectations.
- Develop a proactive, data-driven purchasing culture focused on anticipating business needs rather than reacting to shortages.
- Continuously improve forecasting, purchasing, inventory management, and supplier-management processes.
What You'll Need- 7+ years of progressive experience in inventory planning, demand planning, purchasing, sourcing, or supply-chain management.
- 3+ years of leadership experience managing inventory, planning, or purchasing teams.
- Apparel, fashion, consumer products, manufacturing, or high-SKU-count inventory experience strongly preferred.
- Experience with blank apparel and Print-on-Demand operations highly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience purchasing from both domestic and international suppliers.
- Strong understanding of forecasting, inventory planning, safety stock, lead times, MOQs, inventory turns, and working-capital management.
- Experience managing production consumables and packaging materials preferred.
- Advanced Excel and analytical skills; experience with ERP, inventory-planning, forecasting, and business-intelligence systems.
- Strong supplier negotiation and relationship-management capabilities.
- Ability to analyze large amounts of data and translate findings into clear purchasing and inventory decisions.
- Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills.
