KHAITE Raw Materials Associate

About KHAITE

Founded in New York in 2016 by Catherine Holstein, KHAITE is a luxury womenswear brand distinguished by its interplay of strength and softness, structure and fluidity. Its ready-to-wear, leather goods and footwear reinterpret American dressing through refined materials, precise silhouettes and a distinctive balance of ease and sensuality. As an employer, KHAITE connects creative vision with the disciplines of product development, merchandising, retail and business operations. The brand offers a compelling setting for professionals drawn to contemporary luxury, where craftsmanship, attention to detail and a coherent aesthetic identity underpin the work of building an internationally recognised fashion house.

Role & Responsibilities

• Plan and secure raw material requirements against seasonal production and delivery calendars, converting order forecasts into material needs.
• Monitor stock coverage and consumption, anticipate shortages, and escalate risks early with recommended actions.
• Manage material lead times and buffers to protect on-time production without over-committing working capital.
• Serve as the day-to-day contact for tanneries and material suppliers on open orders, deliveries, priorities, and issue resolution.
• Expedite deliveries and manage supplier priorities in line with production requirements and client commitments.
• Support the Raw Material Manager with supplier follow-up, capacity checks, and continuity of supply.
• Verify incoming leather, fabrics, and components against approved specifications, standards, and quantities, both on-site and at external tanneries.
• Manage non-conformities, including quarantine, supplier claims, replacements, and root-cause follow-up to prevent recurrence.
• Maintain material references, test records, and documentation to ensure complete approvals and traceability and audit readiness.
• Ensure materials are staged and released to cutting, assembly, and subcontractors in the correct sequence.
• Coordinate with cutting and production teams on consumption, yields, and component readiness for production and sampling.
• Track material work-in-progress and reconcile materials issued versus returned from external processes.
• Maintain accurate inventory and material-movement records, including goods receipts, delivery notes, and transfers.
• Support consumption accuracy and cost control, flagging deviations between planned and actual material usage.
• Provide reliable data for reporting on availability, quality, and supplier performance.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing raw materials in footwear, leather goods, or accessories production, ideally within a luxury supply chain.
• Strong practical understanding of leather and materials, incoming quality control, and the cutting-to-production flow.
• Highly organized and detail-driven, able to remain calm under production pressure and address root causes rather than symptoms.
• Comfortable managing tanneries and suppliers directly on quality, priorities, and delivery.
• Confident using ERP and inventory systems and Office, with disciplined attention to data accuracy.
• Fluent Italian; working English is an advantage for collaboration with the New York team.
• Based within reach of the production territory and available for regular travel to tanneries and suppliers.
• Preferred: Experience across both raw material warehouse or operations and production coordination.
• Preferred: Exposure to technical documentation, material specifications, and industrialization hand-off.
• Preferred: Background collaborating with luxury or premium brands on quality and development.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

Skills

Culture

KHAITE’s professional environment reflects its New York identity and distinctive approach to luxury, balancing creative confidence with understated sophistication. Its emphasis on exceptional materials, craftsmanship, and precise design creates a shared focus on quality and a coherent creative vision.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.