Timeline Manager - Product Development & Design

Overview

The Timeline Manager is responsible for creating, managing, and monitoring seasonal product development calendars to ensure on-time execution from concept through production. This role serves as the central coordinator for development timelines across design, graphics, sourcing, brand, and vendor partners. By maintaining a single source of truth for all development milestones, the Timeline Manager ensures projects remain on schedule, risks are identified early, and teams remain aligned on key deadlines and organizational goals.

This role drives accountability, improves workflow efficiency, and reduces delays by actively monitoring progress, coordinating approvals, and facilitating communication across all stakeholders.

About Us

Unrivaled Teamwear serves as the parent company of Champion Teamwear, Gear for Sports, and Knights Apparel, each an industry leader in sports and team apparel space. Our family of brands know what goes into great decorated garments, using top-quality fabrics and offering creative decoration options. Each brand offers customers a premier selection and exceptional service for all their sportswear needs, from T-shirts and caps to fleece, performance wear, and outerwear.

Essential Responsibilities

Seasonal Calendar Ownership

• Design and implement strategic calendars that align teams, drive accountability, and lead the business forward
• Develop and implement strategic business calendars that guide key milestones, product cycles, and organizational priorities.
• Define and manage key development milestones including concept lock, prototype samples, fit approvals, graphic submissions, production start, and bulk delivery.
• Ensure staggered calendars across teams and divisions to allow shared resources to flow work efficiently and avoid bottlenecks.
• Maintain a single source of truth for all product development timelines.

Timeline Monitoring and Risk Management

• Track progress of each style, collection, and development milestone against established timelines.
• Identify potential delays early such as fabric issues, vendor capacity constraints, or design changes.
• Escalate risks and recommend timeline adjustments to leadership when necessary.
• Maintain real-time tracking tools and dashboards within PLM systems or shared project management platforms.
• Drive calendar discipline and accountability, proactively managing shifts, risks, and adjustments to keep the business on track.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the central communication hub between design, graphics, sourcing, brand, sales, and vendor partners.
• Provide regular updates on development progress and upcoming deadlines.
• Send milestone reminders and coordinate schedule adjustments as needed.
• Facilitate timeline reviews, milestone check-ins, and T&A meetings to maintain accountability across teams.
• Ensure cross-functional alignment on timelines, creating clarity on deliverables, dependencies, and decision points across teams.

Sample and Development Milestone Management

• Monitor the timely delivery of proto, fit, and SMS samples according to seasonal calendars.
• Track lab dips, trim approvals, fabric development, and graphic deadlines to ensure alignment with overall development schedules.
• Coordinate feedback loops and approvals to prevent bottlenecks in the development process.
• Ensure graphic and design deliverables between divisions are staggered appropriately to support workflow efficiency.

Process Improvement and Seasonal Review

• Conduct post-season reviews to evaluate calendar performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Recommend process improvements to enhance timeline efficiency, scalability, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Support leadership in refining development workflows to improve speed-to-market.
• Reinforce alignment across teams with organizational priorities, product launch timelines, and strategic goals.
• Continuously refine planning frameworks and timelines to improve efficiency, visibility, and execution across the organization

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Product Development, Supply Chain, Apparel Merchandising, Project Management, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in product development, project management, merchandising operations, or timeline/calendar management within apparel, consumer goods, or manufacturing environments.
• Experience managing seasonal development calendars and cross-functional project timelines.
• Experience working with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, project tracking platforms, or development dashboards.
• Proven ability to coordinate across multiple departments and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

EOE/AA: Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the associate. Other duties will be assigned as needed.

We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing as well as participate in E-Verify.