Product Developer (Merchandise)

Position Summary 

Warren James is a close-knit team of professionals who are passionate about building the

world’s greatest creator-led brands. We believe in collaboration and creativity while having fun

and supporting each other along the way. As a Product Developer, you will be at the center of bringing ideas to life—leading development from concept through launch across a wide variety of categories, including apparel, plush, drinkware, stationary, toys, jewelry, and more.

This role is both hands-on and cross-functional: you’ll collaborate with our U.S. team, our Guangzhou office, and a diverse network of vendors, both domestic and overseas. You will ensure products meet creative, quality, licensor, and compliance standards while also contributing to new category innovation and improvements in our development process. This is an exciting opportunity to grow alongside a fast-scaling company and gain exposure to a wide breadth of product types and global supply chains.

Reports To: COO

Location: Fully Remote

Salary Range: $68,000 - $77,000 per year

Employment Type: Full-time

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The essential functions include, but are not limited to:

• Lead product development for assigned brands from line planning through conceptualization, sampling, production, and launch.
• Partner with brand, design, and overseas teams to build assortments that achieve revenue goals.
• Maintain and update project management trackers (Asana) and ensure accurate, up-to-date documentation.
• Communicate daily with overseas project managers, compliance, vendors, and suppliers to manage timelines and resolve issues.
• Track and document sample costs, unit costs, and tooling costs, escalating concerns to leadership when necessary, and design/develop with specific MSRPs in mind.
• Ensure products meet gross margin, aesthetic specifications, functional requirements, licensor standards, and safety/compliance needs.
• Identify communication gaps and proactively schedule calls to keep all stakeholders aligned.
• Collaborate with the brand team and design resources to spec new products, create tech packs, and expand category offerings.
• Send and track reference samples and development samples for licensors' approvals.
• Contribute to category innovation and process improvements to strengthen the efficiency and scalability of product development.
• Support cross-team collaboration to explore new categories, materials, and product fits.
• Develop products across a broad range of categories, with support from overseas and external contractors.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Bachelor's Degree or higher, or equivalent additional experience
• 2-3 years experience as a product developer or similar role.
• Proficient in Gsuite, Excel, Asana, or other timeline management software.
• Must have a passion for product and innovation!
• Great teamwork skills, organized, focused, hardworking, and excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (WJ covers 99% of employee premium and 50% for
• dependents for health & dental)
• Unlimited PTO
• 4% of salary retirement plan contribution
• Cell phone and gym allowance of $50 each per month
• Short and long-term disability