About PlayShifu:

PlayShifu is one of the fastest growing toy companies from India. We operate in 30+ countries and work with some of the biggest retailers in the world. Our private label and sourcing business with large US retailers is scaling quickly. We're looking for a program leader who can take products from design brief to the shelf, on time and to spec.

The Role:

You will own end-to-end delivery of private label programs for our key US big-box retail partners. You'll be the single point of contact for the retailer's cross-functional teams: Sourcing, Product Development, Quality, Packaging and Logistics. Internally, you'll drive PlayShifu's design, packaging, quality and operations teams so that every deliverable lands on time and to spec. You will run each program from product shortlisting to PO release, production and shipment.

What you'll do:

Program & timeline management

- Build and run the Time & Action (TnA) plan for every program, working backwards from retailer calendars. It covers design freeze, tooling, T0/T1/T2, packaging, testing, production, inspections and ship dates.
- Lead weekly calls with retailer Sourcing, Quality and Logistics teams. Publish status updates and escalate risks early.
- Hold internal teams accountable to TnA milestones, and flag dependencies and delays before they become misses.

Product development

- Manage the retailer's PD portal: create product IDs, track design feedback and revisions, and coordinate sample requests and timelines with internal teams against retailer ETDs.
- Work with our Toy Design team so that every feedback loop closes within the agreed timelines.
- Consolidate documentation from internal teams, including BOM,



measurements, claims and Manufacturing Variability. Get it submitted and approved on time.

Packaging

- Translate the retailer's structural packaging guidelines and feedback into clear briefs and deadlines for our internal packaging team.
- Consolidate all packaging content (copy, claims, warnings, specs, imagery) from internal teams and submit it to the retailer.
- Lead the retailer-side proofing process with the retailer's artwork agency. Review soft and hard proofs for UPC/EAN, regulatory copy, battery instructions and font requirements, and route corrections through the internal packaging team.

Quality & compliance

- Track testing, inspection and audit milestones (DUPRO, FRI, TOP, quality and responsible sourcing audits) against the TnA. Work through the internal quality and operations teams, who manage labs, inspection agencies and factories.
- Act as the retailer's point of contact on quality and compliance. Make sure that issues, corrective actions and approvals are closed on time.
- Represent PlayShifu in placement and production-readiness reviews alongside the operations and quality team.

Systems & costing

- Work with the operations team's systems & item setup function to keep vendor portal data (costing, item setup, case pack, vendor order points, factory mapping)



accurate and consistent with what's been agreed with the retailer.
- Track item-wise progress from costing to PO release, and flag gaps or delays that could hold up a business award or PO.
- Support cost submissions and cost-change management, working with the Head of Sales.

What we're looking for:

- 8–12 years in program management, merchandising or sourcing for consumer products. Toys, juvenile, hardlines or seasonal/outdoor preferred.
- Hands-on experience delivering private label programs for US big-box retailers. Buying house, sourcing agency, export house or vendor-side experience is ideal.
- Working knowledge of retailer vendor portals, product development workflows, packaging development and product compliance and testing. You need enough depth to review the work and challenge it. Hands-on vendor management is not required.
- Proven ability to drive cross-functional teams without direct authority. You set the timelines, hold teams accountable and escalate early.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication. You'll be the face of PlayShifu to senior retailer stakeholders.
- Solid attention to detail, comfort with structured trackers, and the ability to run several programs in parallel.
- Willingness to work with a US time-zone overlap, and to travel occasionally to retailer offices and production-readiness reviews.

Why join us:

- Visibility and ownership from day one, working directly with leadership.
- A fast-growing business with some of the world's largest retailers as partners.
- Freedom to build processes for a program that is set to scale significantly.

📌 Senior Program Manager – Retail Programs (Private Label) (Karnataka)
🏢 PlayShifu
📍 Karnataka