Position Overview:
The position requires strong technical knowledge of garment construction, product development, production management, quality control, supplier management, and luxury apparel standards.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Product Development
- Manage the product development process from initial design concept through final approved production sample.
- Review designs for technical feasibility, construction, fit, finishing, and production practicality.
- Work closely with the Design team to translate creative concepts into commercially and technically viable garments.
- Review and approve fabrics, trims, accessories, construction methods, and finishing techniques.
- Coordinate development of first samples, fit samples, revised samples, PPS, and size sets.
- Identify potential production, quality, cost, or construction issues during the development stage and provide solutions.
- Ensure that final products accurately reflect the approved design, specifications, measurements, and quality standards.
- Review patterns and technical aspects of garments and coordinate necessary corrections with pattern makers and production teams.
- Support the development of new suppliers and manufacturing capabilities where required.
Production Management:
- Plan, coordinate, and monitor production from order confirmation through to final delivery.
- Prepare and maintain production schedules and ensure that production milestones are achieved.
- Monitor production capacity across in-house and external manufacturing facilities.
- Allocate production to appropriate factories, workshops, tailors, and suppliers based on capability, quality, capacity, and delivery requirements.
- Monitor daily and weekly production output and identify potential delays at an early stage.
- Follow up continuously with suppliers and production teams to ensure adherence to agreed deadlines.
- Escalate production risks, delays, quality concerns, and capacity issues to management with proposed solutions.
- Coordinate urgent production requirements and prioritize critical styles/orders when necessary.
- Monitor production efficiency and identify opportunities to improve processes, capacity, and productivity.
Supplier and Factory Management:
- Source, evaluate, and develop suitable factories, workshops, tailors, and suppliers.
- Assess suppliers based on quality, workmanship, capacity, lead time, pricing, reliability, and ability to meet Carter and White standards.
- Negotiate CMT, production, sampling, and other manufacturing costs where required.
- Maintain strong professional relationships with suppliers while ensuring that contractual and company requirements are followed.
- Monitor supplier performance and maintain records of quality, delivery, pricing, and overall reliability.
- Address production failures, delays, quality issues, and corrective actions with suppliers.
- Conduct factory and workshop visits when required to monitor production and resolve technical or operational issues.
Quality Control:
- Ensure that all production meets Carter and White quality standards before shipment or delivery.
- Work closely with the QC team to establish and maintain appropriate quality-control procedures.
- Review QC reports and ensure that identified defects are properly investigated and corrected.
- Monitor recurring defects and implement corrective and preventive actions.
- Ensure that production teams understand required quality standards, construction methods, measurements, and finishing requirements.
- Support technical investigation of garment defects and determine whether issues originate from development, pattern, fabric, construction, production, or finishing.
- Ensure that rejected or defective garments are properly rectified before final delivery.
- Monitor quality performance of both local and international suppliers.
Production Costing C Commercial Control:
- Review and negotiate production and CMT costs with factories and suppliers.
- Evaluate the cost impact of fabrics, trims, construction details, finishing, workmanship, and production methods.
- Identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary production costs without compromising the luxury positioning or quality of the product.
- Review supplier quotations and provide recommendations to management.
- Monitor additional production costs resulting from alterations, reworks, defects, delays, or production failures.
- Support management with production-related cost analysis and recommendations.
Fabric, Trim C Material Management:
- Coordinate with relevant teams regarding fabric and trim requirements for development and production.
- Check fabric availability and suitability before production confirmation.
- Identify material shortages or risks that could affect production timelines.
- Coordinate fabric and trim allocation to appropriate styles and suppliers.
- Work with suppliers to source alternative fabrics, trims, or production solutions when required.
- Ensure that materials used in production correspond to approved standards and samples.
Technical & Production Documentation
- Maintain accurate production and development records.
- Review and coordinate technical specifications, measurements, construction details, BOMs, and production requirements.
- Maintain updated sample status, production status, delivery schedules, and supplier information.
- Track approvals, comments, corrections, and revisions throughout the development and production process.
- Ensure that suppliers receive the latest approved information and that obsolete specifications are not used for production.
Tailor and In-House Production Management
- Manage and monitor the performance and productivity of in-house tailors and production staff.
- Assess tailor skill levels and allocate work according to individual capabilities.
- Establish realistic production targets and monitor daily output.
- Support recruitment and assessment of technically qualified tailors.
- Ensure high standards of workmanship, speed, precision, and finishing.
- Identify training requirements and areas for improvement within the production team.
- Monitor in-house capacity and provide management with projections for future production requirements.
Cross-Department Coordination
- Act as the key production and product-development point of contact between Design, Management, Buying, Retail, QC, Procurement, Finance, suppliers, and factories.
- Coordinate priorities across departments to ensure smooth execution of collections and production orders.
- Provide regular production and product-development updates to management.
- Communicate production risks and proposed solutions clearly and proactively.
- Investigate issues raised by Retail or other departments and coordinate appropriate corrective action.
- Ensure that feedback is communicated through the appropriate internal channels and followed through to resolution.
Reporting and Management Updates
- Prepare regular production status reports covering:
- Production completed
- Current production
- Upcoming production
- Production capacity
- Tailor/headcount updates
- Sampling and development status
- Supplier performance
- Quality issues
- Delays and risks
- Corrective actions
- Provide management with clear visibility on production performance and potential risks.
- Highlight critical issues requiring management decisions or intervention.
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum 5–8 years of relevant experience in apparel production, product development, or a similar senior position.
- Strong experience in premium or luxury fashion is highly preferred.
- Proven experience managing both in-house and external production.
- Experience working with local and international garment manufacturers and suppliers.
- Strong experience in womenswear and/or menswear garment construction.
- Experience with high-quality and delicate fabrics is preferred.
- Experience managing tailors, workshops, factories, and production teams.
Technical Knowledge:
The candidate should have strong knowledge of:
- Garment construction
- Pattern making and garment fitting
- Sampling and product development
- Production planning
- Fabric and trim selection
- Technical specifications and measurements
- Quality control
- Garment finishing
- Production costing
- CMT and supplier negotiations
- Production capacity planning
- Factory and supplier evaluation
- Luxury/premium garment standards
KEY SKILLS:
- Strong leadership and production-management skills
- Excellent garment technical knowledge
- Strong understanding of luxury apparel quality
- Excellent attention to detail
- Strong visual inspection skills
- Ability to identify sewing and construction defects
- Strong understanding of garment fit and proportions
- Ability to identify production risks before they become critical
- Strong negotiation and supplier-management skills
- Excellent organizational and time-management skills
- Ability to manage multiple styles, suppliers, and deadlines simultaneously
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities
- Ability to work under pressure and manage urgent production requirements
- Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills
- Commercial awareness and cost-conscious decision making
- High level of accountability and ownership
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
The ideal candidate should be:
- Highly organized and structured
- Proactive rather than reactive
- Precise and detail-oriented
- Commercially aware
- Decisive and solution-oriented
- Comfortable challenging suppliers when standards are not met
- Able to maintain high standards under significant time pressure
- Strong in follow-up and execution
- Professional and diplomatic in supplier and internal relationships
- Passionate about product quality and luxury craftsmanship
- Capable of independently managing the full production and development process
