we are looking for a Forward Deployed Designer.
The Forward Deployed Designer makes sure the concept lands. You make sure the product does. You're the human who turns a tech pack into a finished good - sitting on factory floors in Tirupur, walking trim markets in Guangzhou, vetting a leather supplier in Porto.
You'll own the manufacturing relationship for our enterprise accounts. Onboard new factories to our network. Negotiate MOQs and FOB terms. Run sample reviews. Solve the inevitable problems that come up between approval and bulk delivery - the wrong stitch, the missing trim, the customs delay - before they become customer fires.
You're the reason a designer in Tel Aviv can trust that what they generated on Tuesday gets shipped from a factory four time zones away by next month.
What you'll actually do:
Own enterprise customer sourcing end-to-end - RFQ to bulk delivery
Vet, onboard, and manage factories in our manufacturer network across Asia, Europe, and LATAM
Negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times, and payment terms - both sides of the table
Run sample reviews on-site (40-50% travel - Tirupur, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Porto, Istanbul, etc.)
Translate factory feedback into product asks that improve tech-pack-to-production handoff
Build the playbook: SOPs, quality checklists, and onboarding flows that scale beyond you
Requirements: 7+ years in consumer-goods sourcing or production - agency, brand-side, or factory-side
Deep network across at least one major manufacturing region (South/Southeast Asia, Europe, LATAM)
Fluency in MOQ, FOB, LCL, RFQ, BOM, GSV - you don't need a glossary
You've negotiated factory terms in real life and have war stories
Comfortable on a factory floor at 6am and in a brand boardroom at 6pm
Strong written communication - half the job is documentation that scales
Passport-ready and globally curious
Bonus points:
Background at a sourcing agency (Li & Fung, Newtimes, Mainetti, similar)
Production experience at a vertically integrated brand
Mandarin, Hindi, Tamil, or Portuguese (any of them, not all)
You've personally onboarded 20+ factories in a previous role
This position is open to all candidates.