Kaliko Austin

About Kaliko Austin

Director of Operations / Retail Operations leader with 20+ years of experience building and scaling operating models in vertically integrated consumer products. I bridge creative execution with operational rigor—translating strategy into integrated corporate product calendars, standardized SOPs, and repeatable workflows that improve speed-to-market, on-time delivery, operational efficiency, and revenue/margin performance. In my current Torrid progression (Senior Designer → Design Manager → Director of Operations, Design), I own and evolve the product development and retail operations model supporting high-volume, multi-season assortments. Lead cross-functional stakeholders across Corporate, Design, Technical Design, Production, and Sourcing—aligning priorities, managing dependencies, and maintaining a single source of truth as dates shift. Core strengths:Operating model design, process optimization, and bottleneck analysis (workflow redesign, continuous improvement) Program management and calendar governance (critical path, milestone management, risk mitigation) SOP development, standardization, and change management to support increased volume and SKU complexity Cross-functional leadership and operational cadence across product development and production pipelines Operational reporting/dashboards, forecasting, compliance checklists, PO/invoicing coordination, and controls Tools: Bamboo Rose, Momentis, Centric 8, Oracle, HighJump, Microsoft 365 (Outlook/PowerPoint), Adobe Suite, Miro, Zoom. Focused on driving scalable operations, predictable execution, and cross-functional accountability so teams deliver the right product, at the right time, with operational excellence.

Experience

1. Director of Operations, Design

   Torrid

   Oct 2024 — Present · City of Industry, CA, US

   Promoted progressively within Torrid to lead increasingly complex scopes across design, product development, and retail operations, bridging creative execution with scalable operating models in a vertically integrated environment.Director of Operations, Design October 2024-PresentOwn and evolve a product development and retail operations model supporting high-volume, vertically integrated assortments across multiple seasons per yearLead cross-functional alignment across Corporate, Design, Technical Design, Production, and Sourcing using a single integrated corporate product calendarIdentify workflow bottlenecks across development and production pipelines; redesign processes to improve speed-to-marketTranslate strategic objectives into scalable SOPs and standardized workflows Maintain a single source of truth in environments with shifting dates and dependencies

Education

• Brooks College

  Associate of Arts (A.A.), Fashion/Apparel Design

  2003 — 2005

Skills

• Draping
• Wovens
• Apparel
• Product Development
• Styling
• Knitwear
• Fashion Illustration
• Mac
• Tech Packs
• Trend Analysis
• Trend
• Dresses
• Sewing
• Fashion Design
• Outerwear
• Fleece
• Sportswear
• Textiles
• Fashion