Raul Rojas

Managed entire production lifecycle for women’s woven/knit dresses and accessories across multiple brands. Maintained time & action calendars with 98% on-time delivery rate. Led daily communications with overseas factories, maintaining 95%+ order accuracy. Led apparel forecasting and production planning by partnering with Sales to capture annual forecasts, translating projections into factory capacity plans, and actualizing production based on bulk commitments; conducted regular drawdowns and reconciliations to ensure alignment with remaining sales commitments and inventory needs. Managed factory bookings and freight coordination, partnering with freight forwarders to negotiate competitive rates and approve vessel schedules, coordinated vessel schedules to meet ship windows and reduce detention/demurrage fees.

Managed entire production lifecycle for women’s woven/knit dresses and accessories across multiple brands. Maintained time & action calendars with 98% on-time delivery rate. Led daily communications with overseas factories, maintaining 95%+ order accuracy. Led apparel forecasting and production planning by partnering with Sales to capture annual forecasts, translating projections into factory capacity plans, and actualizing production based on bulk commitments; conducted regular drawdowns and reconciliations to ensure alignment with remaining sales commitments and inventory needs. Managed factory bookings and freight coordination, partnering with freight forwarders to negotiate competitive rates and approve vessel schedules, coordinated vessel schedules to meet ship windows and reduce detention/demurrage fees.

Owned $50M FOB per season production portfolio, delivering 97% on-time shipment rate. Achieved seasonal margin goals across 9 consecutive seasons through aggressive cost negotiations. Ensured full compliance with Walmart and Macy’s account requirements, including packaging standards, color approvals, testing protocols, and regulatory guidelines to prevent chargebacks and maintain retailer scorecard performance. Partnered with Director on special projects and cross-functional alignment, helping streamline team operations and workflows; led knowledge transfer and training to successfully transition domestic production responsibilities to offshore sourcing partners. Drove a 40-point margin improvement on Michael Kors belts by optimizing cost structures with existing vendors, showcasing sourcing agility and deep factory relationships. Supervised and developed 3 direct reports, increasing team productivity by 20%; also mentored cross-functional team members by providing hands-on training, troubleshooting support, and process guidance.

Owned $50M FOB per season production portfolio, delivering 97% on-time shipment rate. Achieved seasonal margin goals across 9 consecutive seasons through aggressive cost negotiations. Ensured full compliance with Walmart and Macy’s account requirements, including packaging standards, color approvals, testing protocols, and regulatory guidelines to prevent chargebacks and maintain retailer scorecard performance. Partnered with Director on special projects and cross-functional alignment, helping streamline team operations and workflows; led knowledge transfer and training to successfully transition domestic production responsibilities to offshore sourcing partners. Drove a 40-point margin improvement on Michael Kors belts by optimizing cost structures with existing vendors, showcasing sourcing agility and deep factory relationships. Supervised and developed 3 direct reports, increasing team productivity by 20%; also mentored cross-functional team members by providing hands-on training, troubleshooting support, and process guidance.

Spearheaded fabric sourcing for seasonal launches, introducing 25+ new fabrics annually. Supported Pricing Architecture with cost-effective material development that preserved design intent. Ensured 100% compliance with wash and performance testing standards. Sourced fabrics at industry conventions, balancing trend insights, aesthetic fit, and price to fuel GAP’s seasonal collections and margin goals. Built seasonal inspiration boards for GAP, curating fabric and yarn innovations—including recyclable materials and technical properties—to enhance design, performance, and sustainability across product lines.

Managed 300+ SKUs per season across global vendors, achieving 95% on-time delivery rate. Reduced production costs by 10% via cost engineering and strategic sourcing. Developed seasonal calendars and monitored CPU to meet profitability benchmarks. Drove $1.5M in annual savings by launching a VMI program at Ralph Lauren outlet stores, optimizing vendor-controlled inventory to reduce FOB costs, lead times, and warehouse dependency. Co-developed compliance standards for fabrics and finished goods in partnership with the Compliance team, safeguarding product integrity and meeting all testing and regulatory requirements. Led cost engineering initiatives to adapt blue label and RLX for outlet channels, sourcing alternative raw materials to hit price points without sacrificing quality or brand aesthetic. Expanded the outlet assortment by cost-engineering RLX and Big & Tall styles, while leveraging shared sourcing with RLX and mainline teams to consolidate materials, meet MOQs, avoid surcharges, and reduce liabilities—supporting margin goals across both outlet and blue label businesses.

Oversaw all trim procurement and approval for 200+ seasonal styles. Reduced trim overages by 20% through quarterly inventory audits and strategic reuse. Collaborated with Product Development to align trend research and raw material sourcing, ensuring aesthetic goals were met while achieving margin and cost objectives.

Issued finalized purchase orders, ensuring accurate cost confirmation. Managed T&A calendar, PPS/TOP tracking, and DTM submits. Negotiated PO adjustments: extensions, pre-packs, splits, and discounts. Managed Guatemala production teams to optimize suiting fabric roll usage, ensuring tops and bottoms were cut from the same lot to maintain garment shade consistency.

Managed domestic production for Donna Karan Collection and Signature lines, ensuring factories received cut work, corrected patterns, and final markers aligned with fitting adjustments. Assigned work to pattern makers based on specialized expertise, ensuring executional accuracy and efficiency; streamlined production by consolidating similar bodies/styles, reducing lead times and improving workflow.