Chief Operating Officer in Montreal

Status: Active

For generations, TÉLIO has provided clients with the highest quality fabrics, innovative designs and unprecedented customer service. TÉLIO has thrived as a wholesale business, importing and exporting fabrics sourced globally. The head office, showroom, warehouse and distribution centre occupies 6,000 square meters facility in Montreal, Quebec. TÉLIO showrooms are also located in Toronto and Vancouver, serving apparel manufacturers, independent designers and fabric retailers. TÉLIO is currently searching for a Chief Operating Officer to contribute to TÉLIO’S continued growth and success.

The Role:

For the period of transition, the Chief Operating Officer will work closely with the current President to learn all aspects of the business. TÉLIO has a large assortment of in-stock, innovative fashion fabrics, and provides an unprecedented level of service to clients globally. The Chief Operating Officer will have a keen eye for fashion, understand global trends, be client centric, collaborative and accountable. With experience building a performance driven culture, this individual will oversee sales, finance, operations, production, merchandizing and purchasing.

The Responsibilities:

• Proven track record within textile fashion industry, experience with textile design, has worked with both basic and novelty fabrics
• Experience working with sales representatives and sales agents, holds people accountable, provides coaching and training to employees when needed
• Be the face of the product, listen to the client’s needs and get ahead of trends in the market, source and innovate new designs to meet client requirements
• Oversee the production and operations of the company, empower the leadership team to take ownership for their areas of responsibility
• Understand margins and inventory management, forecast changes in client demand, ensure the supply chain processes are effective and on-time delivery is maintained
• Oversee, forecast and implement inventory strategy that meets seasonal demand
• Has strong relationships with suppliers, able to grow existing suppler relationships and build new ones
• Attends trade shows, meets with suppliers and clients, identifies growth opportunities in the global market
• Leads the development and implementation of digital distribution, builds the digital footprint of TÉLIO and grows the e-commerce side of the business

The Requirements:

• 12+ years track record of success, with 7+ years leadership, within textile or fashion industry, with a keen eye for fashion, speaks English and French fluently
• Demonstrated knowledge of operations, including finance, sales, production, inventory management and human resources, a true generalist
• Proven track record growing sales through a network of sales agents and sales representatives in Canada and the United States, understands and anticipates global trends
• A team player, who consistently recognizes talent and expertise within the operation, empowers leaders and thrives working collaboratively, is results driven
• Experience overseeing a warehouse, understands inventory management, tariffs, procurement, logistics and on-time delivery
• Experience working in product distribution globally and selling to multiple end-users such as designers and wholesalers
• Strong negotiation and follow-up skills, attends to the needs of the client, a natural relationship builder who brings creative thinking and a can do attitude
• A consummate communicator with the ability to have tough conversations and leverage communication skills for success, a hands-on leader
• Entrepreneurial, ambitious, and competitive, demonstrates energy and a sense of urgency in executing day-to-day responsibilities
• Superior excel skills, comfortable with pivot tables, able to analyze, interpret and act on data gathered from ERP system, experience with Momentis Apparel Management Fashion ERP Software is an asset
• Excellent computer skills and knowledge of Microsoft office 365, willing to travel

Our goal at People First Solutions is to hire top performers for our clients. To this end, our selection process is thorough, enabling us to collect very detailed information. We base our selection process on Topgrading®, a proven method that allows our clients’ to effectively match top performing candidates to key leadership roles. As well, we integrate TalentSorter®, a behavioural science based assessment tool to help companies hire for “fit.”

If you possess the fundamental skills, experience and education required to be successful in this role we invite you to provide a cover letter and résumé in PDF, in confidence to either Bob Murray or Adrienne Giffen.

Bob Murray – – 604.803.4377

Adrienne Giffen – – 604.209.8023

We thank all applicants for their interest in this role.