---
title: 'Senior Manager of Technical Design at Short Story'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-of-technical-design-short-story-san-francisco-ma6c4taxakhq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Senior Manager of Technical Design at Short Story

- **Company:** Short Story
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $95k–$200k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-05-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/shortstory/ddc207c9-1963-4d4a-824b-f0bca128cdc5

## Job description

Our Story:

Short Story is an award winning, technology powered retailer dedicated to petite women 5'4" and under. Our mission is to create a seamless shopping experience for millions of petite women so they can dress with effortless confidence.

As a fast-growing startup, we're revolutionizing retail with a data driven learning system that leverages customer feedback to create tailored products. We've been recognized by top publications like Forbes, Fortune and are backed by leading investors who share our vision of building the world's next great consumer brand.

Our Values:

We're building a company with intention and purpose. Our culture thrives on data insights, exceptional commitment to fit, and the urgency to move quickly on what matters.

- ✨ Transform Lives. We're customer-first. Everything we create exists to give her confidence.
- ⚡️ Demand Excellence. We deliver only our best work, in Fit and Finish. We obsess about details others overlook.
- 💪 Embrace Challenges. We see obstacles as opportunities to invent better solutions.
- 💡 Think Differently. We get a thrill from finding better solutions others haven't seen.

The Role:

The Senior Manager of Technical Design will lead our growing team of technical designers and drive the development of market-leading petite fashion. Using data and technology along with craft and talent, this role will innovate our technical design and product creation processes. This role is about setting standards, refining fit and quality metrics, building a team of sterling experts and making our workflows the most efficient they can be. Collaborating closely with different teams and with vendors, this role will shape product strategies that strengthen Short Story’s foothold as the market leader of fit and quality in petite fashion. Talent development and transparent communication are integral to leadership, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration across the organization.

Responsibilities:

- Lead the growing Technical Design team at Story Story, specializing in petite fit expertise.
- Establish processes to maintain Short Story’s  industry-leading position in fit and quality.
- Educate and coach the Technical Design team to enhance their skills and knowledge.
- Evaluate and stabilize processes and tools in order to execute product strategies efficiently (from fit blocks and grade rules to WIP and tech pack excellence).
- Drive innovation in our technical design work, establishing best in class tools and resources to execute against product vision.
- Streamline development process, ultimately driving speed, bandwidth and accuracy;  build processes that are easily scaled.
- Champion for product excellence in fit and quality; delivering products that delight clients (in fit, style and quality).
- Hold internal and external partners accountable for excellence across all fit and quality metrics.
- Partner with vendors to ensure products meet fit goals and quality standards in bulk production.
- Partner with product development and merchandising to achieve process and performance goals.
- Foster strong vendor co-creation partnerships with processes and clear standards that are both client-centric and efficient.
- Introduce innovation and leverage supplier expertise to build upon fit and product creation technologies (and tech at source capabilities).
- Leverage internal data and external data to strengthen the technical design process;  combining insights to  inform technical decision making.
- Prioritize talent development.
- Partner with the Head of Product Development and Sourcing to evolve team structure, ways of working, external partnerships, etc., enabling accelerated growth.

Qualifications:

- BA or BS preferred.
- 12+ years of experience in technical design and product development within Women’s apparel.
- 8 years of management experience, setting strategies and leading teams.
- Growth mindset.
- Petites experience required.
- Considered to be an expert on the product creation lifecycle, specifically in fit and patternmaking.
- Passionate about developing your team’s knowledge and skillset in fit, patternmaking, quality and overall product knowledge.
- Process architect and demonstrated success leading teams through times of significant change.
- Strategic problem solver - situational analysis, scenario planning, weighing risk/reward, AB testing, evaluating. taking action, and open to iteration.
- You have a strong aptitude for data, metrics, reporting and analysis.
- Ironclad industry relationships and you value vendor partnerships.
- Never satisfied with average and are known to look for ways to improve/innovate to maximize team’s impact & effectiveness.
- You can operate comfortably and lead your team through ambiguity and change.
- Clear and influential communicator with both internal & external partners.
- Excellent identifier and developer of talent,  to ensure your team has the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of an evolving business.
- You are able to travel (domestically and internationally).
- This role is onsite in our San Francisco Office full time.

Benefits:

- Flexible Paid Time Off
- 401k with company match
- Healthcare, dental and vision benefits
- Opportunity to work with a dedicated and experienced founding team
- Opportunity to work at a Y-Combinator backed startup
- Catered lunch on Fridays and company events

Short Story is committed to providing equal employment opportunity and a work environment free of discrimination and harassment for all employees and applicants. We work diligently to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.

## About Short Story

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Short Story is a tech-powered personal styling service exclusively for petite women (5’4” and under), delivering curated clothing boxes with expert fit and style.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; $3.0M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Isabella Sun (CEO) & Samuel Hoffstaetter (CTO) [linkedin.com, theorg.com]

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Retail Apparel and Fashion (direct-to-consumer e‑commerce)
- **Target customers**: Petite women (5’4” and under) seeking clothing that fits without alterations – primarily B2C.
- **Mission statement**: “Remove the ‘ugh’ from the shopping equation so you can dress with effortless confidence” – celebrating petite women through modern, accessible styling. [my.shortstorybox.com/about-us]

## Products & Services
- **Personal Styling Box (subscription)**: Customers complete a detailed style quiz; a human stylist (supported by data) selects 4–5 clothing items tailored to petite proportions. Members purchase what they like and return the rest. [shortstorybox.com, jobs.ashbyhq.com]

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $3.0M (Seed round of $2.9M in Sep 2021; pre‑seed in 2019) [linkedin.com]
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: 9 investors in the 2021 seed round (names not disclosed in search results); partners include logistics providers (e.g., ShipBob talent source). [linkedin.com]
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 87 employees as of mid‑2025 — +32.3% year‑over‑year growth. [linkedin.com]
  - Active job postings up +63.2% yearly; 31 open roles at time of research. [linkedin.com]
  - Expanded to a second warehouse and operates in 5 countries (US, Canada, Philippines, India, Turkey). [linkedin.com]
  - Featured by Fortune (2022) and KTLA (2021). [linkedin.com]

## Competitive Advantages
- **Underserved niche**: Focuses exclusively on petite women (nearly half of US women are 5’4” or under) – a segment often ignored by mainstream retailers.
- **Data + human touch**: Combines rapid customer feedback loops, fit data, and personal stylists to continuously improve fit and curation – “engineering a better retail model”. [linkedin.com]
- **Woman‑led team**: Founder/CEO Isabella Sun and a majority of the leadership team are women who intimately understand the problem, building trust and authentic brand connection. [my.shortstorybox.com/about-us]
- **Proprietary fit expertise**: Developed internal petite‑specific sizing insights and product development processes, making returns and alterations less frequent.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling operations**: Recent warehouse launch and headcount growth signal investment in fulfillment capacity to support increasing demand.
- **Tech‑enabled personalization**: Continued investment in data‑driven styling tools and rapid feedback loops to refine product selection and fit. [linkedin.com]
- **Talent acquisition**: Actively hiring across engineering, styling, merchandising, and operations, with a notable uptick in remote roles (e.g., Senior Software Engineer – Back-End, Remote Canada). [linkedin.com, jobs.ashbyhq.com]

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “a team of builders and problem solvers” who “move fast, test relentlessly, and build with empathy.” The environment is entrepreneurial and impact‑focused. [my.shortstorybox.com/careers]
- **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Several engineering roles are fully remote (US/Canada), while styling and fulfillment roles have specific location requirements. [linkedin.com]
- **Growth opportunity**: The company is in an aggressive growth phase (headcount +32% YoY, job postings +63%) – early‑stage employees can wear many hats and shape the company’s trajectory.
- **Mission‑driven**: Employees directly serve a passionate, underserved community – “making an impact on real lives.” [my.shortstorybox.com/careers]
- **Engineering note**: A lean technical team (3% of employees in technical roles) means high ownership and visibility for engineers; recent openings for Senior Full‑Stack and Back‑End roles. [linkedin.com]

## Sources
1. [Short Story Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/shortstory)
2. [Short Story About Us](https://my.shortstorybox.com/about-us)
3. [Short Story Careers](https://my.shortstorybox.com/careers)
4. [Short Story LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shortstorybox)
5. [Short Story Org Chart (The Org)](https://theorg.com/org/short-story)

## Other roles at Short Story

- [Technical Design Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-design-assistant-short-story-san-francisco-991z9kr2q8zm) — San Francisco, CA
- [HR & Recruiting Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/hr-recruiting-coordinator-short-story-south-san-francisco-pzvnz6x6dn49) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Director of HR](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-hr-short-story-san-francisco-frkqxawrct2q) — San Francisco, CA
- [Merchandise Associate (International Only)](https://feeny.ai/job/merchandise-associate-international-only-short-story-philippines-ra8e8nnzdvz5) — Philippines
- [Senior Software Engineer, Back-End (San Francisco)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-back-end-san-francisco-short-story-san-francisco-75d7aem8z9ys) — San Francisco, CA
- [Senior Software Engineer, Back-End (Remote Canada)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-back-end-remote-canada-short-story-canada-qt7paf4wkk0c) — Canada
- [Senior Technical Designer - Tops & Dresses](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-designer-tops-dresses-short-story-san-francisco-nbygkhhkrmz6) — San Francisco, CA
- [Warehouse Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-manager-short-story-south-san-francisco-v6ft2kh8v5rc) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Staff Engineer, Full Stack (US, Canada, SF)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-full-stack-us-canada-sf-short-story-united-states-2xz91aa7yqm8) — United States
- [Personal Stylist (Remote CA, WA, NV, TX, OH, GA, FL, NC, SC)](https://feeny.ai/job/personal-stylist-remote-ca-wa-nv-tx-oh-ga-fl-nc-sc-short-story-california-jrkgaj1mdram) — California