Category Lead (Buying, Sourcing & Merchandising)

Location: [Thane / On-site / Hybrid]
Type: Founding Team | Full-Time | High Ownership

What this role really is

This is not a traditional merchandising role.

Your primary responsibility is to build and own our production and vendor ecosystem across India — identifying the right factories, developing new vendor relationships, ensuring quality, speed, pricing, and getting production executed successfully.

You will work closely with founders to build products from concept → sourcing → sampling → production → launch.

Your job is simple:

Find the best vendors, get great products made, and ensure speed + quality + margins work together.

Primary Roles & Responsibilities

1. Factory Sourcing & Vendor Development (Core Responsibility)

• Identify, onboard, and build relationships with new factories and vendor partners across India

• Develop strong network across:

  • Garment factories

  • Embroidery units

  • Print units

  • Wash units

  • Dyeing units

  • Surface ornamentation vendors

  • Fabric suppliers

  • Trim/accessory vendors

• Continuously discover better vendors for:

  • Cost

  • Quality

  • Speed

  • Capability

  • Innovation

Actions to be Taken:

• Travel extensively for sourcing and factory visits

• Build backup vendor ecosystem

• Negotiate better commercials and MOQs

• Reduce production dependency risk

2. Production Ownership

• Get production executed end-to-end through partner factories

• Ensure:

  • Timely production

  • Quality consistency

  • Proper finishing

  • Correct execution of embroidery, print, embellishments, trims

• Solve production bottlenecks proactively

Actions to be Taken:

• Speed up production timelines

• Reduce delays and defects

• Improve factory coordination

• Ensure commercial quality standards

3. Product Buying & Category Development

• Finalize:

  • Fabrics

  • Techniques

  • Embroidery

  • Surface developments

  • Garment executions

• Work closely with founders to develop commercially relevant products

• Ensure category assortment balances:

  • Fashion

  • Commercial viability

  • Margins

4. Sampling & Quality Control

• Drive sampling process end-to-end

• Get qualities fixed before production

• Ensure:

  • Fit consistency

  • Fabric quality

  • Construction quality

  • Finishing standards

Actions to be Taken:

• Minimize production errors

• Reduce returns caused by quality issues

• Improve repeatability in manufacturing

5. Costing & Margin Optimization

• Negotiate:

  • CM cost

  • Fabric pricing

  • Vendor pricing

• Ensure commercially viable production

Actions to be Taken:

• Improve gross margins

• Reduce unnecessary cost leakages

• Improve production efficiency

6. Merchandising & Production Coordination

• Coordinate timelines across:

  • Design

  • Production

  • Vendors

  • Operations

• Ensure products launch on time

7. Trend & Market Research

• Research:

  • Menswear trends

  • Fabrics

  • Techniques

  • Surface developments

  • Competition

Must-Haves (Non-Negotiable)

• Strong experience in vendor sourcing & factory development

• Strong network of garment factories and vendor ecosystem

• Ability to get production executed at speed + quality

• Strong negotiation skills

• Comfortable travelling extensively across India

• Strong understanding of:

  • Garments

  • Fabrics

  • Embroidery

  • Surface techniques

  • Production

• High ownership mindset

• Comfortable building from scratch

What Success Looks Like

• Strong vendor ecosystem built

• Better quality at better cost

• Faster production turnaround

• Lower dependency on few vendors

• Better margins

• Strong product execution with fewer issues