Senior Sample Manager - Industrial Color

Industrial Color is hiring a highly operational, systems-minded Senior Sample Manager to lead sample operations for one of our largest and most complex eCommerce accounts. This role is based onsite at our studios in downtown Los Angeles.

This is not a coordinator role.

This is a high-ownership, high-volume operations leadership position managing the movement of 15,000–20,000 SKUsannually through a fast-paced studio production pipeline. You will own the integrity, flow, and accuracy of merchandise from intake through shoot, post-production, and return — while directly leading and developing a sample team.

If you are the type of operator who builds systems, enforces standards, and thrives in organized chaos — this role will give you real impact and visibility.

What You’ll Own

End-to-End Sample Operations

• Lead and oversee the full lifecycle of merchandise through the eCommerce production pipeline: check-in, tracking, on-set execution, post-production, and return.
• Ensure 100% accuracy in tagging, tracking, and product data integrity.
• Maintain operational control over a high-volume SKU environment without sacrificing speed or quality.
• Establish and enforce quality control checkpoints across the workflow.

Team Leadership & Accountability

• Directly manage and develop two Sample Team members.
• Set daily priorities, monitor workload distribution, and ensure quality standards are upheld.
• Provide hands-on coaching, workflow training, and performance feedback.
• Build cross-training systems to ensure team scalability and coverage.

Client & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Act as a senior operational liaison between client, account management, production, styling, digital, and retouching.
• Scrub and validate product data before it impacts shoot schedules.
• Proactively resolve missing samples, discrepancies, and data issues before they disrupt production.
• Partner with Production to build weekly shoot schedules aligned to priorities, deadlines, and inventory flow.

Systems & Process Improvement

Evaluate and continuously improve sample workflows for scalability and efficiency.

• Implement documentation and SOPs that reduce error and dependency.
• Generate and deliver reporting for both internal leadership and client stakeholders.
• Escalate risks and capacity concerns with clear solutions — not just problems.

On-Set Operational Expertise

• Serve as the subject matter expert on product tracking systems.
• Provide hands-on on-set support to ensure sample integrity and smooth execution.
• Collaborate closely with styling to ensure correct product pairing and shoot readiness.

Requirements

• 3–5+ years of experience in sample management, retail operations, merchandising operations, or high-volume eCommerce production.
• Experienced leading or mentoring team members with demonstrated accountability for output.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, data reconciliation) and comfortable working in data-heavy environments.
• Extremely detail-oriented with a low tolerance for tracking errors.
• Calm and decisive in fast-paced, high-SKU production environments.
• Operationally sharp — you naturally see inefficiencies and fix them.
• Comfortable balancing hands-on execution with leadership oversight.
• Strong communicator who can confidently interface with clients and senior stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset — you treat the workflow like it’s yours.

Benefits

The anticipated salary range for this role is $75,000 - $85,000 annually. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience, and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

We offer a competitive benefits package including major medical, dental and vision insurance, FSA, HSA, and employee discounts.

Industrial Color is a division of CoCreativ, a family of integrated creative production companies. Industrial Color partners with top brands, agencies, and creative professionals providing a full range of essential production services. For over 30 years, we've led the industry through a culture of innovation, bringing state-of-the-art digital production and post-production solutions to our clients.

Our headquarters is based in Tribeca, NY, with offices in Los Angeles and studios in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Our clients include: L'Oreal, Publicis, Procter & Gamble, Tommy Hilfiger, Absolut Vodka, Nike, Estee Lauder, Amazon...