Merchandise Manager for Advanced Development

You will be responsible for managing assigned staff and vendors to ensure efficient capacity planning and consistent, sustainable improvement in sample production execution. Your role will involve overseeing the Sample Room performance and quality of requests from the Innovation, Design, and Licensing teams. Additionally, you will be supporting supply chain and process improvement initiatives. In your strategic capacity, you will collaborate with cross-functional department heads to develop and maintain capabilities for executing the apparel proto/sample process according to the established Rapid Prototyping Strategy. You will work on establishing corrective action plans, ensuring readiness for physical sample production, and identifying process changes when necessary. It will be crucial for you to lead efficient and accurate capacity planning through close partnerships with vendors and various teams within the organization. Your responsibilities will also include updating vendor performance matrix and tiering data, leading continuous improvement in sample delivery performance and logistics, and influencing vendors to invest in people and machinery as per evolving business needs. You will need to ensure that procedures to monitor the sample production process are established, understood, and consistently followed by staff and vendors while implementing changes for process improvement. Furthermore, you will be in charge of staffing, training, and performance management of the sample production team. It will be essential to optimize staff effectiveness by modeling company values, supporting skill development, and balancing workloads and projects. Collaborating with HR and LO Merchandise Director on succession plans and performance evaluations will also be part of your role. Your role will involve directing and monitoring the Sample Room Production and procurement team to ensure data integrity and visibility on promised ex-factory dates. You will need to actively collaborate with key partners, visit factories frequently with Sample Production staff, and conduct regular business reviews to ensure goals are met. The Sample Room Capacity and Production Manager position reports to the Regional India Merchandise Director. This role requires a University/College degree in textiles, apparel, business, or equivalent, along with 10-12 years of relevant experience in production, merchandising, or manufacturing environments, preferably in the garment industry. Strong communication skills in English, leadership abilities, and a focus on continuous improvement will be essential for success in this role.,