Manager, Global Merchandise Sourcing - Disney Consumer Products

This is an office-based role in our Singapore office.

Wherever you are in the amazing world of Disney, you are contributing to the stories of our iconic brands, recognised by audiences everywhere for entertainment, information and inspiration. Innovation, imagination and inclusion are at the core of Disney, defining the experience that we deliver as well as providing the foundation of our success. The scope of our business, combined with global growth and collaboration result in an inclusive employee experience characterised by continuous learning, development and achievement.

About Disney Consumer Products

Disney Consumer Products (DCP) is the division of Disney Experiences that brings beloved brands and franchises into the daily lives of families and fans through products — including toys, t-shirts, apps, books, and more — and experiences that can be found around the world. This includes on the Disney Store e-commerce platform, Disney Parks, local and international retailers, and Disney Store locations globally. The business is home to world-class teams of experts in product, licensing, and retail; artists and storytellers; and technologists who inspire imaginations around the world.

About Global Merchandise Sourcing

Global Merchandise Sourcing team handles all apparel development and production of Disney’s consumer products end to end. The team handles all styles from point of tech pack development, sample creation, costing, tech approvals and eventual bulk production and shipment of these products to the global Disney Parks and Disney Stores. We manage and work with our vendor source base and collaborate with our Disney Design and Merchandising teams on day-to-day level.

About the Role

The Manager, Global Merchandise Sourcing is responsible for managing Apparel categories and supporting the Senior Manager. The Manager, Global Merchandise Sourcing has responsibility for anticipating production market shifts and developing breakthrough ideas and processes to continually mitigate risk. The Manager, Global Merchandise Sourcing will be responsible for developing and executing short and long-term sourcing strategies, driving factory relationships, initial cost negotiations, production follow up, and is accountable for all strategic details and decisions of all categories.

A key focus is driving digital product creation, including 3D garment simulation and virtual sampling, to reduce development cycles and improve accuracy. You will act as a critical link between Design, Technical Design, Merchandising, and Suppliers, ensuring that products are both creatively aligned and technically executable at scale.

Responsibilities:

• Inspires and motivates peer and direct reports (as applicable).
• Proactively drives measurable efficiencies of team communications, tasks, and overall workflow to support continuous improvement.
• Facilitates short and long-term sourcing strategies for managed categories, setting priorities, objectives, and action plans to improve supply base and mitigate risk with measurable accountability.
• Travel internationally/domestically to build factory and supplier relationships, and continuously expand product knowledge/expertise. Be the expert in all key sourcing regions.
• Assists in the leveraging opportunities, trains and executes sourcing strategies for global site-specific items.
• Drives product to meet Disney quality standards and elevate supplier performance with measurable results
• Partner with US-based Sourcing team to drive market exploration and diversification.
• Transform data into information and collaborate with Quality Assurance team on root cause/corrective action.
• Manages the development process, supporting on time delivery and driving profitability while maintaining design vision.
• Drives product development management, communicating key milestones and deadlines within the sample approval process.
• Drives proactive production tracking, communicating and troubleshooting exceptions and delays.
• Negotiates costing and proposes value engineering options to achieve profitability goals while ensuring product vision is achieved.
• Seeks new ideas, techniques, and materials to drive product innovation.
• Identifies opportunities to leverage cross-category tools, information, processes and resources to optimize category performance.
• Collaborates with factory and Product Design to bring new art techniques and applications and researching trends.
• Understands market behavior and suggests strategy options to mitigate risk, protect the Disney brand, and achieve competitive advantage.
• Develops and maintains a stable and socially compliant supply base that meets ILS MCS, regulatory standards, and other established supplier performance requirements.
• Proactively addresses issues with timely and high-caliber communication and actions.

Requirements:

• 8 to 10 years’ experience in Global Sourcing and/or Merchandising​
• Strong knowledge of product-specific construction standards, materials, and manufacturing processes/techniques.
• Experience in merchandise sourcing and production management.
• Experience with fabric sourcing and garment development
• Exposure to 3D product creation tools preferred
• Strong apparel construction, fit, and fabric knowledge
• Understanding of textile performance and testing
• Experience with 3D garment tools such as CLO, Browzwear
• Solid costing, negotiation, and analytical skills
• Demonstrated ability to balance conflicting priorities between creative design and cost of goods objectives.
• Proficient in English and Mandarin or native dialects to interact with stakeholders across Asia markets
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong analytical and strategy-formulation skills.
• Ability to influence internal stake holders and drive efficient decision-making.
• Understanding of macro-economic pressures and variables that influence global sourcing decisions.
• Strong computer skills. (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint, MicroCharts, etc.)

Educational Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (Apparel, Textiles, or related field a plus)

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. We are committed to building a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.