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Design Manager

Top Management

20 years of experience designing, sourcing and developing retail consumer products.
A proven leader with the ability to partner and collaborate with internal teams and external partners
to achieve company objectives. Acutely attentive to details with strong organizational and
communication skills. Outstanding team leadership and mentoring skills. 


- Design management and development for overseas vendors
- Coordination with US brands, planning, production and logistics
- Sourcing and vendor matrix development
- Maintaining of development documentation including tech packs and construction details

- Product design and development for Home Gym Concept program with sporting goods team
- Researched quantitative and qualitative guest data, creating user personas that identified current guests needs
- Worked with CFT’s executing trend direction, competitor strategy and product offerings
- Utilized Concept Board with design team and business partners, while working in a virtual environment
- Aligned with sourcing for business partnership options
- Presented final strategy and product proposal with merchandising

Contract Industrial Designer

- Direct product lifecycle and technical product solutions for hard and soft line programs
- Identify innovation opportunities, including materials and manufacturing processes
- Collaborate with Quality and Testing to assure product quality, prototype and production runs meet safety requirements 
- Maintain state-of-the-art technical specifications and quality requirements for consumer products
- Co-devlop with CFT’s, ensuring accountability of product reviews, including fit and quality consistency of each product 
- Measure and evaluate factory samples in comparison to product specifications and construction requirements
- Ensure all development documentation is maintained, including tech packs, bill of materials and construction details

Senior Technical Developer

- Product development and design for large retailers owned brands: furniture, luggage and sporting goods
- Sole designer for Rossport Outdoor
- Maintain current trend & color direction for all Rossport Outdoor product categories
- Sole designer for all brands manufactured by ACE Casual Furniture
- Designed and coordinated new showroom, tripling the size and product offering from previous space
- Reduced cost and increased margin by introducing and implementing technical specification packets
- Traveled extensively to international factories to troubleshoot and improve design and manufacture of product

- Leading efforts to develop new global supply partners and consolidate current supply base - Thorough knowledge of supplier capabilities, capacities, and costs
- Manage design process and strategy, contribute to concept design and product creation
- Guest research and round table sessions creating a holistic end to end user experience
- Optimize product designs and costs by negotiating with the factories engineering and operations teams
- Establish relationships with global supply partners, drive for speed in reduction of development time
- Manage supplier timelines for product development ramp-ups, production and shipping
- Integrate key compliance elements including C-TPAT, Social Accountability - SA 8000, QC, and US Customs within supply
chain processes
- Extensive global travel and troubleshooting at the factory level

Design Manager/Global Sourcing

- Managed hard line and soft line design team of five designers for private brands
- Led design and technical development in expanding assortment of Field & Stream product for initial opening of retail stores
- Managed vendor relationships, capabilities and expectations through product management, product design and production
- Integrated design thinking strategies in order to define seasonal trends and create future product opportunities
- Built internal relationships resulting in stronger line plans and decreased sample ratios
- Collaborated with vendors and QC teams to create product standards for all categories in hard lines
- Leader in creating brand right items by collaborating and providing guidance with CFT’s
- Established first-ever process & technical specifications for hard lines

Senior Industrial Designer

- Product development and design for large retailers owned brands: gas grills, outdoor heating, luggage and sporting goods
- Drove $15 million in growth revenue with new indoor/outdoor heating and gas grill programs
- Led and maintained competitive studies for market strategies and current trend
- Developed and designed gas grill program with Lowes, increasing production by 50%
- Managed design teams in US and Asia

Principal Designer

- Managed design and manufacturing teams from product concept through product launch
- Established ergonomics and technology for women’s protective eye wear and sizing standards for women’s field gloves
- Developed technical specifications and aesthetics for mens and women’s product and equipment lines, packs, bags, travel bags
- Responsible for increasing women’s lacrosse equipment and apparel line by 25%
- Hired and mentor of three junior designers and expanded product development group

kent bogdan is a Design Manager at Bogdan Design in minnieapolis, MN. View their experience, skills and work history on Malakye — the professional network for…

kent bogdan — Design Manager at Bogdan Design

kent bogdan

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College for Creative Studies