Senior Merchandiser - Ethical Apparel Africa

Maagrace Garment Industries Limited (MGIL) is a leading apparel manufacturer established in 2003 in Ghana, with a workforce of around 1,000 and capacity to grow to 2,000. We produce heavy and lightweight garments including fleece, sweats, nightwear, underwear, shirts, schoolwear, and dancewear, mainly for large-scale brands in the USA, under strict quality and compliance requirements. We are a free zone enterprise with a strong social mission and a particular focus on creating opportunities for women.

We work in strategic partnership with Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA), a Ghana-headquartered sourcing company that helps international brands manufacture ethically in West Africa. You will work alongside the MGIL and EAA technical teams.

Position overview

The Senior Merchandiser will be responsible for managing assigned customer accounts and orders from product development and costing through bulk production and final shipment, ensuring that all orders are delivered on time, at the agreed cost and quality standards.

They will also play an important role in supporting EAA's growth by identifying opportunities, improving order execution and maintaining strong relationships with international customers. They will report to the Director – Merchandising, Sourcing & Logistics.

Key responsibilities

Buyer / Customer Management

• Act as the primary merchandising contact for assigned customers/accounts. 
• Communicate professionally with buyers and customer teams on daily order matters. 
• Understand customer requirements, standards, specifications and critical timelines. 
• Follow up on buyer approvals, comments, samples and development requirements. 
• Maintain strong and professional customer relationships. 
• Participate in buyer calls and meetings and provide clear updates on order status. 
• Escalate commercial, quality or delivery risks proactively. 

Product Development & Costing

• Review new styles, tech packs, specifications and BOMs. 
• Coordinate development of fabrics, trims, accessories and packaging. 
• Work closely with the sourcing team to obtain competitive fabric and trim prices. 
• Prepare accurate garment costing and negotiate where required. 
• Review consumption, fabric width, GSM, wastage, trims, CM and logistics costs. 
• Identify opportunities to reduce product cost without compromising quality. 
• Coordinate sample development and ensure samples are submitted on time and the right quality standard. 
• Ensure all development comments are properly recorded and followed through from sampling to bulk production. 

Order Management

• Manage orders from PO receipt to shipment through the ERP System. 
• Review POs carefully for quantity, price, delivery date, fabric, trims and special requirements. 
• Prepare and maintain order trackers. 
• Monitor critical path activities and ensure all milestones are achieved. 
• Coordinate with planning, production, sourcing, quality and logistics teams. 
• Monitor fabric and trim availability against production requirements. 
• Identify potential delays early and develop recovery plans. 

Production Follow-Up

• Monitor production progress against the agreed production plan. 
• Work closely with production and planning teams to ensure shipment commitments are achieved. 
• Follow up on cutting, sewing, finishing, packing and final inspection timelines and numbers and ensure all data points are correct in reports and ERP. 
• Ensure production issues are communicated to the relevant stakeholders immediately. 
• Support resolution of production and quality issues affecting delivery. 
• Coordinate with QA/QC teams to ensure customer requirements are met. 

Raw Material & Sourcing Coordination

• Work closely with the sourcing team to ensure timely availability of fabrics and trims. 
• Monitor fabric booking, lab dips, strike-offs, testing, approvals and bulk deliveries against the Critical Path (CP) and raise any red flags in the CP meeting. 
• Track fabric and trim shortages and excess inventory. 
• Ensure materials are aligned with the correct PO/style and delivery requirement. 
• Support sourcing negotiations and alternative supplier development where required. 
• Maintain close coordination with mills and suppliers. 

Quality & Compliance

• Ensure customer quality standards and specifications are understood and communicated. 
• Follow up on testing, inspections and customer-required certifications. 
• Coordinate with QA, nominated laboratories and inspection agencies where applicable. 
• Ensure all approvals are received before bulk production. 
• Support corrective actions for quality issues. 

Logistics & Shipment

• Coordinate with the logistics team to ensure orders are shipped within customer deadlines. 
• Monitor shipment readiness, booking, vessel schedules and cut-off dates. 
• Ensure commercial/shipping documents are prepared correctly and on time. 
• Coordinate with freight forwarders and internal logistics teams. 
• Identify vessel rollovers, port delays or other logistics risks and communicate recovery plans. 
• Ensure shipment status is accurately updated until the goods reach the required destination. 

ERP / Data Management

• Maintain accurate order information in the ERP system. 
• Ensure PO, style, quantity, costing, material and shipment information is updated correctly. 
• Maintain accurate merchandising trackers and reports. 
• Analyse order data to identify delays, cost variances and operational risks. 
• Ensure all relevant merchandising documents are properly maintained. 

Qualifications and attributes

• Bachelor's degree in business, fashion, textiles, merchandising, supply chain or a related field. A specific textile engineering degree is not required where practical merchandising experience is strong.
• 5-8 years of garment merchandising experience, ideally in an export-oriented manufacturing environment, factory-based rather than only a buying office or trading house.
• Proven experience managing international customer accounts, ideally US and European brands, across the full order lifecycle from development and costing through bulk production and shipment.
• Solid experience in garment costing, product development and production follow-up and track record of running multiple styles and POs at once.
• International shipping and export process knowledge 
• Experience working in ERP systems is an advantage.
• Client-facing confidence: ability to communicate clearly and professionally with buyers, and can hold relationships and handle difficult conversations well.
• Data-driven: strong numerical and analytical skills, advanced Excel, and uses order data to flag delivery risks and cost variances early.
• Commercial mindset: understand margin and cost drivers, and negotiate effectively with customers and suppliers.
• Strong ownership/pro-activity and accountability, problem-solving and resourcefulness.
• Disciplined on follow-up, detail-oriented organisation and the critical path across many orders at once.
• Confident escalating risks and challenging issues constructively, before they become problems.
• Sound garment technical knowledge, construction, fabrics, trims, consumption, and quality and testing requirements.
• Stay effective under pressure, and work independently while coordinating across departments.

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