Inventory & Supply Chain Manager (Bilingual Mandarin/English)

Job Summary As our Inventory & Supply Chain Manager, you will serve as the operational backbone of our product lifecycle, ensuring global inventory flows smoothly, stays healthy, and remains accurate across all sales channels. This role goes far beyond stock management; you will own the critical logic between demand and supply, directly influencing our ability to deliver the right products at the right time. Fluency in both Mandarin and English is required for this role. You will serve as the full liaison between our US-based headquarters and our manufacturing partners in China, using your bilingual abilities daily to source new products and vendors, resolve defects, negotiate pricing and timelines, and uphold quality standards. Prior experience in demand forecasting is essential, as your work will blend high-level strategic planning with hands-on execution: managing Open-to-Buy (OTB) models in Prediko, maintaining Purchase Orders through Linnworks, and enforcing rigorous quality control. You will identify supply chain bottlenecks, optimize shipping logistics for cost and speed, and own the end-to-end relationship with our China-based supply chain. Interview Process Our hiring process is designed to evaluate both your strategic thinking and hands-on technical capabilities. Candidates who advance to the interview stage will be required to complete a practical assessment during the interview to demonstrate proficiency in core areas relevant to this role. The assessment may cover: • Inventory analysis and demand forecasting scenarios • Purchase Order management and discrepancy resolution • Supplier communication and quality control decision-making • Vendor sourcing strategy and supplier negotiation • Proficiency with tools such as Excel/Google Sheets for OTB modeling The assessment is intended to give you an opportunity to showcase your skills and give us a clear understanding of how you approach real-world operational challenges. Further details will be provided when your interview is scheduled. Key Responsibilities 1. Advanced Forecasting & Planning • Own the Forecast: Leverage Prediko to drive demand planning and replenishment. Analyze product performance using AI-driven forecasts, customer volume data, and repeat buyer frequency to ensure optimal stock levels. • Open-to-Buy Management: Maintain and update the OTB model with confirmed incoming shipments and variances. Generate buy lists by brand and channel to prevent stockouts and overstock situations. • Data Integrity: Execute daily and weekly routines to monitor inventory turnover and maintain accurate Available-to-Sell (ATS) figures, ensuring minimal variance between system data and physical stock levels reported by the warehouse. 2. Procurement & Logistics Operations • PO Lifecycle Management: Build, submit, and track Purchase Orders from request through receipt. Manage partials, backorders, and validate receipts against invoices to ensure accuracy at every stage. • Logistics Optimization: Actively seek opportunities to optimize shipping methods, balancing speed against cost (e.g., evaluating sea freight vs. air shipment), and ensure all vendor lead-time assumptions are accurate and up to date. • Inbound Oversight: Flag discrepancies immediately and ensure all vendor shipments arrive on time, complete, and correctly routed through Linnworks. 3. Product Sourcing & Vendor Development (Bilingual Focus) • New Product Sourcing: Research, identify, and evaluate new manufacturers and suppliers in China. Negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times, and payment terms directly in Mandarin to secure the best value for the business. • Vendor Onboarding: Manage the full onboarding process for new suppliers, including sample requests, quality benchmarking, compliance verification, and initial production runs. • Market Intelligence: Stay informed on material trends, pricing shifts, and emerging suppliers in the Chinese manufacturing market. Proactively bring new product opportunities and cost-saving alternatives to the leadership team. 4. Supplier Relations & Quality Control (Bilingual Focus) • Defect Resolution: Act as the primary point of contact for product quality issues. Receive reports from the warehouse and customer service teams, communicate directly with suppliers in Mandarin regarding defects, and track corrective actions through to resolution. • Remote Batch Inspection: Direct the inspection process for samples from every batch prior to listing. Review photos, videos, and inspection reports provided by the onsite team, with full authority to reject batches that fail quality standards (e.g., broken clasps, poor plating). • Vendor Scorecards: Maintain and regularly update scorecards to track supplier performance across on-time delivery, order completeness, and quality. Lead the effort to address underperformance and, when necessary, terminate vendor relationships. 5. Data Hygiene & Cross-Functional Reporting • Master Data Management: Collaborate with the team on SKU creation, ensuring standardized vendor codes, consistent units of measure, and up-to-date Bills of Materials (BOMs) for kits and bundles. • Directed Cycle Counts: Analyze inventory discrepancies to identify high-risk areas. Direct warehouse employees to perform targeted cycle counts and audits on specific bins or SKUs, reconciling their findings with system records. • Cross-Functional Reporting: Serve as the liaison between product, warehouse, and marketing teams. Provide regular reports on in-stock rates, GMROI, and any constraints that may impact promotional readiness. Signature Systems You will be expected to develop deep proficiency in the following platforms: • Prediko — Demand planning, AI-driven forecasting models, and replenishment recommendations • Linnworks — Multi-channel inventory hub for stock syncs, Purchase Orders, and ASNs • Shopify — Product master data management and Available-to-Sell visibility • Notion — Internal knowledge base, SOPs, project tracking, and cross-functional collaboration • Vendor Scorecards — Custom reporting tools to evaluate and grade manufacturer performance 90-Day Success Metrics The following milestones define what success looks like in your first three months: • Forecast Calibration: Fully own the Prediko forecasting routine, with safety stock parameters updated and aligned with current sales trends. • Vendor Workflow Optimization: Establish a clear, documented process for communicating defects to Chinese manufacturers, resulting in a measurable decrease in unresolved quality tickets. • Data Clean-Up: Complete a full audit of active SKUs and BOMs to achieve 100% accuracy between Linnworks and Shopify. • Logistics Assessment: Deliver a comprehensive review of current shipping logistics and present at least one actionable proposal for cost savings via consolidated or sea-freight options. • Sourcing Pipeline: Identify and begin vetting at least two new potential suppliers, delivering a comparison report on pricing, quality, and lead times relative to current vendors. Qualifications Required • Language: Fluent in Mandarin and English (written and verbal). Essential for direct communication with manufacturers regarding product specifications, defects, and negotiations. • Experience: 3–4+ years of inventory management and sourcing experience, specifically managing large inventories (2,000–5,000+ SKUs) across multiple channels with direct experience sourcing products from Chinese manufacturers. • Remote Work Competency: Demonstrated ability to manage operations and teams remotely using digital communication tools effectively. • Tech Stack Proficiency: Deep hands-on experience with Prediko, Linnworks (or comparable IMS and demand planning tools), and Notion for documentation, SOPs, and cross-functional collaboration. • Forecasting Experience: Proven track record with demand forecasting, replenishment planning, and safety stock optimization. You must bring hands-on experience building or managing forecast models in a high-SKU environment. • Analytical Mastery: Strong proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets for OTB modeling and inventory health analysis. Familiarity with Looker or other BI tools is a plus. Preferred • Experience in the jewelry or fashion accessories industry, with familiarity in materials, plating techniques, and common product defects. • Background in product liquidation strategies to free up capital from slow-moving stock. • AI Proficiency: Hands-on experience using AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, or similar) for data analysis, workflow automation, anomaly detection, and operational efficiency. You should be comfortable integrating AI into your daily processes to work faster and smarter. Key Competencies • Process-Driven: You thrive on standardizing SKUs, creating SOPs, and building repeatable systems for cycle counts and inventory management. • Communicator: You can translate complex supply chain constraints into clear, actionable updates for marketing and sales teams. • Detail-Oriented: You notice when a lead time is off by two days or when a BOM is missing a component, and you act on it immediately. Pay: $45,000.00 - $50,000.00 per year Benefits: • Paid time off Work Location: Remote Apply tot his job Apply To this Job