Apparel - Sourcing Manager, Men's Leather Outerwear (EUR)
Basis Set Ventures (Basis Set) is an AI-native venture capital fund founded in 2017 that invests in early-stage AI companies, positioning itself as the first capital for founders. The firm backs startups across automated workflows, autonomy, intelligent collaboration, and scalable infrastructure, serving early-stage AI founders and startups as its typical clients.
About Basis Set Ventures
Basis Set Ventures is an AI-native venture fund founded in 2017, built on the science of minds and machines, that recently announced its $250M Fund IV. The firm positions itself as the first institutional capital for founders and provides hands-on, 24/7 'founder concierge' support, acting as its portfolio companies' first customer, sales rep, bug reporter, and recruiter. It invests in AI-first startups spanning categories such as automated workflows, autonomy, intelligent collaboration, and scalable infrastructure, with portfolio companies including Quince, Cusp, Path Robotics, OpenArt, Entire, Tigris Data, Mem0, Vizcom, Simular, and Sakana. Basis Set also publishes original research and perspectives on topics like trucking operations, global customs, maritime transport, real estate, agriculture, and AI agent infrastructure, and runs a Basis Set AI Fellows program for individuals to work on hard problems within the firm and its portfolio companies. Its typical clients are early-stage, AI-native startup founders across a range of industries including consumer, infrastructure, robotics, and enterprise software.
Skills
About the Role
You will own and build a sourcing operation for the Men's Leather Outerwear category, identifying and onboarding new vendor partners from scratch. You will scout manufacturers across the UK and Europe, pitch and onboard them quickly with clear testing criteria, and manage supplier capacity to keep pace with company growth. You will negotiate materials and costs with suppliers throughout the supply chain, build validated cost structures for negotiations, and act as an ambassador to partners while driving continuous improvement in product quality, lead times, and profitability.
Requirements
- 10+ years sourcing and merchandising experience in Men's apparel categories with high-end national brands in the United States and Europe, specifically in Men's Leather Outerwear
- Consumer focused and ambitious with strategic leadership ability
- Self-motivated with proven ability as a self starter and quick independent learner
- Exceptional attention to detail with a data driven approach to decision making and problem-solving
- Strong analytical mindset with focus on execution, process improvement, and brand enhancement
- Continuous learner with a proactive attitude, open to new perspectives
- Good track record in supply chain management or operations
- Excellent interpersonal skills and written and verbal communication and presentation skills
- Resilient under pressure
Responsibilities
- Scout for vendor partners in the UK and Europe who can manufacture high quality Men's Leather Outerwear products with fast production lead time
- Pitch and onboard vendor partners quickly with clear criteria around the initial test period and scalability
- Drive excellence in partner operations for existing supplier relationships while expanding a redundant supplier base
- Improve Quince's product costs, quality, and commercial terms for sustainable sales and profitability
- Manage capacity at a supplier and style level to keep pace with company growth and scale
- Source materials quickly to improve product cost, quality and speed for scaling orders
- Negotiate with suppliers throughout the supply chain from T1 to T2 and T3 mill/vendor partners
- Build a validated cost structure/template to negotiate with vendor partners without relying on vendor data only
- Act as an ambassador to partners in all interactions, building and deepening relationships
- Drive for higher hit-rate launches through product excellence and faster development times by identifying bottlenecks and proposing solutions
- Maintain strategic and commercial understanding of the sourcing landscape and trade benefits for products destined for the USA, Canada, and Europe
- Lead across a diverse set of stakeholders from different functions and nationalities and redefine processes and SOPs