Senior Merchandiser, Apparel

The Children's Place; Lahore; On-site; PKR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

The Children’s Place in Lahore, Pakistan is seeking a sourcing and production specialist to support our transformation into a world-class apparel partner. You will manage pre-production and production milestones and guide Merchandisers within the team to deliver on time.

You will collaborate with US and Asian vendors, optimize capacity planning, negotiate first costs, and maintain strong relationships to meet AUC and delivery targets. Strong English communication and leadership are essential.

Qualifications

• 4 years of relevant experience in apparel development and/or production.
• 2 years of supervisory/leadership experience.
• Strong understanding of apparel design, development and production follow up (childrenswear’s experience preferred).
• Strong background in developing and maintaining vendor and material supplier relationships.
• Experience in executing various sourcing strategies (e.g. country migration, vendor consolidation, etc.).
• Exposure in vendor scorecarding and remedies development.
• Experience in sample allocation, ordering & tracking, and product approvals.
• Experience in first cost, cost negotiations, and bidding.
• Exposure to production capacity planning and reservation.
• Familiarity of Product Safety/Technology standards for children’s products.
• Familiarity with SAP and GT-Nexus is an asset.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• Great command of both verbal and written English skills.

Responsibilities

• To support the execution of business strategies relating to the Company’s transformation initiatives.
• To effectively partner with the US Sourcing team in realizing sourcing strategies in Asia.
• To support capacity planning responsibilities for the assigned product category.
• To maintain close communication with vendors and US counterparts.
• To support vendor and factory allocation and carry out all product approval milestones (Development Submits, Fit, PP, Color Management, Submit Tracking, Approval Status, Risk Escalation).
• To achieve the desired first and final costs for the assigned product category.
• To diligently monitor pre-production/production and elevate/rectify any issues in prompt and sound manner.
• To carry out PO Acknowledgement & Maintenance responsibilities in an accurate and timely manner.
• To support Delivery Management and ensure Production/WIP & Ex-Factory schedules are adhered to for the assigned product category.
• Assist in any tasks and ad hoc projects as assigned.

Skills

Apparel development

Production follow-up

Vendor relationships

Sourcing strategies

English communication

Tools

SAP

GT-Nexus

MS Office

Job description

Location: Lahore

Job Summary: To support the successful transformation of the business in becoming a world-class sourcing organization by maintaining strong business relationships and executing business strategies at the operational level through core sourcing competencies. To effectively fulfill the pre-production and production elements of an assigned product category, while guiding Merchandiser(s) within the same team. To partner with global counterparts in ensuring that all business goals and objectives are met, including but not limited to AUC and on-time delivery targets.

Responsibilities

• To support the execution of business strategies relating to the Company’s transformation initiatives
• To effectively partner with the US Sourcing team in realizing sourcing strategies in Asia
• To support capacity planning responsibilities for the assigned product category
• To maintain close communication with vendors and US counterparts
• To support vendor and factory allocation and carry out all product approval milestones (Development Submits, Fit, PP, Color Management, Submit Tracking, Approval Status, Risk Escalation)
• To achieve the desired first and final costs for the assigned product category
• To diligently monitor pre-production/production and elevate/rectify any issues in prompt and sound manner
• To carry out PO Acknowledgement & Maintenance responsibilities in an accurate and timely manner
• To support Delivery Management and ensure Production/WIP & Ex-Factory schedules are adhered to for the assigned product category
• Assist in any tasks and ad hoc projects as assigned

Education and Experience

• 4 years of relevant experience in apparel development and/or production
• 2 years of supervisory/leadership experience
• Solid understanding of apparel design, development and production follow up (childrenswear’s experience preferred)
• Strong background in developing and maintaining vendor and material supplier relationships
• Experience in executing various sourcing strategies (e.g. country migration, vendor consolidation, etc.)
• Exposure in vendor scorecarding and remedies development
• Experience in sample allocation, ordering & tracking, and product approvals
• Experience in first cost, cost negotiations, and bidding
• Exposure to production capacity planning and reservation
• Familiarity of Product Safety/Technology standards for children’s products
• Familiarity with SAP and GT-Nexus is an asset
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel PowerPoint, and Outlook)
• Great command of both verbal and written English skills

Behavioral Competencies

Drives business results through communication and collaboration Plans and Organizes Exhibits and Drives accountability Builds effective team make our PLACE yours Being a part of our team takes collaboration and hard work.

We are seeking top talent who are eager to contribute to a high-performing team! We are proud to be the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America and continue to celebrate the success of our collection of brands, including The Children’s PLACE, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and PJ PLACE.

If you are eager to learn and work in a diverse, inclusive, fast-paced and engaging work environment,