Product Development Operations Manager

CALPAK is a Los Angeles-based travel lifestyle brand designing bags and luggage that are functional, iconic, and built to move. With a product line spanning handbags, small leather goods, luggage, and accessories, we hold our product to a high standard from concept through launch.

The Product Development Operations Manager owns the execution layer of our product development process: BOMs, packaging coordination, licensed product workflows, compliance, and product data integrity across all categories. The right person for this role keeps documentation accurate and audit-ready, meets licensing and compliance deadlines without being chased, and catches milestone risks before they become launch problems.

This position works closely with the Director of Product Development and Product Development Manager, with a clear mandate to escalate proactively and keep every program on track.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities:

• BOM Management & Product Data
• Build and maintain Bills of Materials (BOMs), ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely updates across all product categories
• Execute BOM revisions, version control, and change management throughout the product development lifecycle
• Maintain product data integrity and consistency across PLM and internal systems, ensuring alignment across cross-functional teams
• Monitor data discrepancies, workflow exceptions, and system gaps, proactively resolving issues and escalating risks as needed
• Ensure adherence to product data standards, naming conventions, classification structures, and system governance protocols
• Support PLM data accuracy, process discipline, and ongoing system optimization initiatives
• Licensed Product Coordination & Portal Management
• Coordinate licensor portal submissions, uploads, approvals, and status tracking
• Track approval milestones and revision cycles
• Maintain licensed product documentation and requirements
• Communicate delays, bottlenecks, and approval risks
• Packaging Development and Coordination
• Manage packaging development workflows, coordinating submissions, approvals, revisions, and execution across internal teams and external partners
• Define, track, and enforce retailer, channel, and program-specific packaging requirements to ensure full compliance and consistency
• Maintain packaging standards, specifications, documentation, and version control across all product categories
• Monitor packaging milestone adherence and proactively escalate risks, delays, or compliance issues impacting product launch readiness
• Testing & Compliance Coordination
• Track and manage product testing requirements, ensuring timely communication of testing protocols, GCC documentation requirements, and compliance standards to Production and vendor partners
• Coordinate testing submissions, compliance documentation follow-up, and record maintenance across all product categories
• Maintain testing and compliance records, ensuring documentation is complete, accurate, and audit-ready within internal systems
• Monitor testing timelines and documentation status, proactively identifying risks and escalating missing approvals, failed submissions, or compliance gaps
• PLM & Workflow Support
• Maintain PLM data accuracy, completeness, and system integrity across all active product development workflows
• Monitor development calendar milestones and due dates across all active programs, ensuring cross-functional adherence to established timelines
• Track milestone status, proactively identifying delays, bottlenecks, and workflow exceptions that may impact launch readiness
• Support execution and enforcement of established product development processes
• Support ongoing PLM process optimization, workflow discipline, and system adoption initiatives
• Provide any additional support as needed.

Requirements:

• 5–8+ years of experience in Product Development, Product Operations, Production Coordination, or Product Lifecycle Management within accessories, handbags, luggage, travel goods, or consumer products
• Strong working knowledge of product development workflows, milestone calendars, commercialization timelines, and stage-gate processes
• Experience building, maintaining, and managing Bills of Materials (BOMs), product specifications, and product data across multiple categories
• Proven experience supporting product data accuracy and workflow execution within PLM, ERP, or other product lifecycle management systems
• Experience coordinating packaging development, documentation workflows, and retailer or channel-specific packaging requirements
• Familiarity with licensed product approval workflows, licensor portal submissions, revision cycles, and approval milestone tracking preferred
• Working knowledge of product testing, compliance documentation, GCC requirements, and third-party testing coordination preferred
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines across cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated ability to identify operational risks, monitor development timelines, and escalate issues proactively
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong process discipline and documentation management capabilities
• Strong cross-functional communication skills with experience partnering across Product Development, Design, Production, Sourcing, and external vendors