Factory Merchandiser – Production & Quality (China)

Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm (China Standard Time)

ASAP

About the role Our client is looking for a factory merchandiser to manage apparel orders on the ground in China. You’ll be the day-to-day contact at partner factories, overseeing production from sample development through shipment.

Your job is to know what’s happening on each order, verify what the factory reports, and flag problems while there’s still time to address them. This is a hands-on role that requires regular time on the factory floor.

What you’ll do

• Track daily production output. Verify actual units cut, sewn, finished, and packed against the factory’s daily targets. If output falls short, confirm what caused the delay and get a recovery plan with revised quantities and dates.

• Own the work-in-progress (WIP) tracker. Keep material readiness, sample approvals, production milestones, testing, inspections, and ship dates up to date for every open PO. Flag risks to the client as soon as they come up and follow each issue through resolution.

• Check samples before they ship. Review development, pre-production (PP), and top-of-production (TOP) samples against the tech pack and approved references. Check measurements and grading across sizes, fabric, color, trims, construction, and workmanship. Document discrepancies with photos and measurements, and have the factory correct them before sending samples to the client.

• Monitor quality during production. Conduct or oversee fabric and inline checks. Verify that the factory follows the approved sample and specifications, with particular attention to sizing consistency. When an issue is found, identify the affected goods, have the factory separate them, and verify the correction.

• Arrange testing and inspections. Coordinate sample submissions to approved labs and book third-party inspections. Track results, flag failures promptly, and coordinate corrective action, retesting, or reinspection as needed.

• Verify shipment readiness. Confirm finished quantities, size and color breakdowns, labels, packing, and inspection status. Escalate unresolved issues to the client and hold affected goods until the client authorizes release.

• Keep factory records current. Collect and maintain factory and mill contact details, traceability records, and audit follow-up documents as requested. Record updates in the client’s shared tracker so the team can see what’s complete, what’s missing, and who owns the next step.

Experience in apparel production, factory merchandising, or garment quality assurance, ideally with knit apparel such as tees and fleece. Ability to read tech packs and graded specs, measure garments accurately, and identify construction and workmanship issues. Familiarity with garment testing, inline and final inspections, AQL, and factory corrective actions. Professional working proficiency in Mandarin and English, with the ability to communicate clearly with factory teams and the client’s U.S. team. Strong spreadsheet and reporting skills, and the ability to manage multiple POs and factory schedules at once. Willingness to travel to partner factories and spend time on the production floor.

Strong judgment and quick decision-making under pressure, including the ability to assess what can be improved, what meets acceptable standards, and what a factory can realistically deliver.

Experience working with factories of varying sizes and with tier 2 suppliers, such as fabric mills and dye houses. Please include relevant examples on your profile.

Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for WIP trackers, production plans, order status, and reporting. Email and video conferencing tools such as Outlook or Gmail, and Zoom or Microsoft Teams, for communication with the U.S. team. Shared file and document platforms such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox for tech packs, approvals, inspection reports, and traceability records. Digital photo tools for documenting sample measurements, defects, and production conditions. Factory production or ERP systems, if used by the factory or client, for tracking orders, materials, production, and shipments.