Assistant Manager – Quality Assurance | Apparel

Psmith Advisors; Tamil Nadu; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Psmith Advisors in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, seeks an experienced Assistant Manager – Quality Assurance to lead QA across our South India sourcing base, covering Tirupur, Karur and Chennai. You will head a regional QA team of 3 and stay hands-on with factory operations.

The role requires deep apparel/textile QA knowledge, strong vendor management, and experience with PP meetings, inline and final inspections, and root-cause actions, with travel to factories as needed.

Qualifications

• Strong QA experience in apparel/textile sourcing.
• Experience managing a QA team across multiple factories.
• Knowledge of AQL-based inspections and quality checks.
• Willingness to travel frequently to factories.
• Ability to balance quality with delivery timelines.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage QA activities across Tirupur, Karur, and Chennai.
• Lead a QA team covering Apparel and Home Textile.
• Ensure products meet buyer quality requirements.
• Collaborate with factories from pre-production through shipment.
• Participate in PP meetings, risk assessments, and inspections.
• Conduct factory visits when required.
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Monitor vendor quality performance and improve processes.

Skills

Quality Assurance

Team leadership

Vendor management

Apparel/Textile QA

Factory inspections

PP meetings

Job description

Location: Tirupur, Tamil Nadu

Coverage: Tirupur, Karur & Chennai

Work Mode: Full-time, office & travel to factories in South India

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Assistant Manager – Quality Assurance to manage quality operations across our South India sourcing base.

Based out of Tirupur, the role will oversee quality across multiple vendor factories in Tirupur, Karur and Chennai, covering both Apparel and Home Textile categories.

The position will lead a regional QA team comprising 3 QA professionals – 2 covering Apparel and 1 covering Home – while continuing to remain hands‑on with factory operations.

This role would suit someone who combines strong technical quality knowledge with vendor management, team leadership and an execution‑oriented approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage quality assurance activities across assigned factories in Tirupur, Karur and Chennai.
• Lead and guide a team of QAs across Apparel and Home Textile categories.
• Ensure products consistently meet buyer/customer quality requirements and defined quality standards.
• Work closely with factories from pre‑production through shipment, proactively identifying potential quality risks.
• Participate in PP meetings, risk assessments, inline inspections and final inspections as required.
• Personally conduct factory visits and inspections when business volumes, escalations or critical production situations require hands‑on intervention.
• Identify recurring quality issues and work with factories on root‑cause analysis, corrective actions and preventive measures.
• Monitor vendor quality performance and support factories in strengthening their internal quality processes.
• Coordinate closely with merchandising, sourcing, production and other internal stakeholders to ensure quality expectations are aligned with delivery commitments.
• Allocate and monitor QA resources across factories based on production schedules and business priorities.
• Act as the regional point of escalation for quality issues and drive timely resolution with vendors.
• Build strong relationships with the South India vendor ecosystem and continuously assess supplier capabilities.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong experience in Quality Assurance within the apparel/textile sourcing industry, preferably with a buying house, liaison office, sourcing organization or similar setup.
• Good technical understanding of both Apparel and Home Textile quality processes.
• Prior experience managing or supervising a team of QAs/QCs across multiple factories.
• Strong understanding of garment/textile manufacturing processes, quality checkpoints, AQL‑based inspection, PP meetings, inline/final inspections and corrective‑action processes.
• Strong working knowledge of the South India vendor ecosystem, particularly Tirupur, Karur and surrounding sourcing clusters.
• Experience working with vendors catering to the value segment / high‑volume business would be highly preferred.
• Should have an established understanding of vendor capabilities and manufacturing strengths across South India.
• Must be comfortable travelling frequently to factories and personally getting on the production floor and conducting inspections when required.
• Strong vendor management, problem‑solving and escalation‑handling capabilities.
• Proactive, self‑driven and capable of operating with limited supervision.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to balance quality standards, commercial realities and delivery timelines.

Preferred Background

Candidates currently or previously associated with established global buying houses, sourcing organizations or multi‑vendor apparel/home‑textile businesses would be particularly relevant.