SUMMARY:
Our client, a well-established knitwear and apparel manufacturer to leading South African retailers, seeks to appoint a highly structured, detail-oriented Apparel Merchandiser to join their Merchandising & Production Coordination team at their factory based outside Ladysmith. This is an excellent opportunity for an Apparel Merchandiser who wants to build a career at the intersection of retail client management and factory production.
About the Role
The ideal candidate will act as the central cross-functional bridge between retail brand clients and the factory’s development and planning teams — ensuring garment assortments are planned, developed, and delivered on time, in full, and to the correct quality and quantity specifications.
POSITION INFO:
Key Responsibilities: Analyse tech packs , yarn properties, fabric construction, and trim requirements alongside product developers Build and maintain day-to-day client relationships , providing clear updates on sample status and order progress Participate in commercial negotiations on unit pricing, credit terms, and shipping schedules under senior guidance Track daily production and quality progress across the factory floor against brand benchmarks Maintain accurate order, inventory, and sample-approval records using internal systems and spreadsheets Partner with production planners to convert buyer order sheets into executable factory floor timelines Act as frontline support resolving production bottlenecks, documentation errors, or volume changes Conduct ongoing research into regional fashion trends, fabric innovations, and raw material pricing Must Have: Degree or Diploma in Textile Technology, Clothing & Textile Technology, Fashion Design 2 - 5 years' merchandising experience within the textile or garment manufacturing industry Strong analytical and problem-solving skills , with an eye for fabric defects and manufacturing friction points Excellent written and verbal communication skills for client-facing and factory-floor interactions Intermediate Microsoft Excel proficiency (data sorting, formulas, lookups) Resilience and adaptability in a fast-paced, high-output manufacturing environment Correspondence will only be conducted with short listed candidates. Should you not hear from us within 14 days then please consider your application as unsuccessful
