THE COMPANY

Our client an American label / retailer of women's fashion, who previously purchased products through an agent is establishing its own buying operation in Hong Kong. The FOB volume exceeds US$150 Million.

It is anticipated that the FOB volume will be US$20 Million in the first year and US$60 Million in the second year for the Hong Kong operation.

THE POSITION - Managing Director, Hong Kong

Based in Hong Kong and reporting to the Executive Director of Sourcing who is based in the United States, the successful candidate will need to participate in office-site location and recruit staff as well as supervise the office start-up and related transitioning activities. He/She will need to develop and deploy processes and procedures to facilitate piloting of a direct-sourcing operation.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• The candidate will initially lead the deployment of the start-up planning - including the hiring and on-boarding of office and field staff - as well as spend significant time immersed in the Company's home office operations to get assimilated with the culture, the brands' respective aesthetics, design and product vision, as well as current business practices and personnel.
• Provide executive leadership and strategic vision to increase the effectiveness and scale of the direct-sourcing operation.
• Full P&L responsibility for all Hong Kong office based operations.
• Partner with the Company's executive management to establish operational requirements to meet annual financial targets for the Hong Kong office.
• Accountable for the development and execution of the functional strategies necessary to meet the financial targets, including factory-allocation strategies and vendor management strategies.
• Conceptual functional-design of the Hong Kong office based operations may comprise:
• Material sourcing management.
• Cycle-time sensitive product development approvals (e.g., color and fit).
• Purchase order management and contract administration.
• New factory/mill evaluation (incl. human rights, C-TPAT compliance) and on-boarding.
• In-factory QC statistical audit management.
• Export logistics/customs coordination and support.
• Office administration.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in Asian sourcing operations for apparel or related industries, including at least 10 years in a management role with a record for apparel or related industries, including at least 10 years in a managerial role with a record of progressing responsibility. Further, candidate should have working knowledge of pertinent practices, IT systems and tools, service providers and current best practices for a large-scale, HK-based export business.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS