Job Summary
Published On : Sep 16, 2026
No. of Vacancies : Not Specific
Job Type :
Full Time
Job Level :
Experience : At least 8 years
Location : Dhaka (Savar city)
Salary Range:
Negotiable
Application Deadline : Oct 2, 2026
Knit Merchandising Manager
Olympia International Limited
No. of Vacancies
Not Specific
Job Description / Responsibility
- ABOUT OLYMPIA
- Olympia International is an international apparel business working across the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
- We specialise in developing and supplying commercial fashion products for major international retailers, particularly within the off-price sector.
- Our product categories include T-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, hoodies, Henleys, knit tops and other casualwear across a portfolio of owned and licensed brands.
- We operate through teams in London and Bangladesh and work with a network of manufacturing partners across Bangladesh, China and other sourcing markets.
- As the business continues to grow, we are looking for an experienced Knit Merchandising Manager to take responsibility for our knit merchandising operation in Bangladesh.
- THE ROLE
- This is a senior, hands-on merchandising position responsible for managing the complete knit product and order lifecycle — from initial development and costing through sampling, order placement, production and final shipment.
- The successful candidate will be expected to take ownership rather than simply follow up orders.
- You will manage and develop the knit merchandising team in Bangladesh while working closely with Olympia's London Brand Leads, Bangladesh Product & Design team, garment technologists, factories, fabric mills, quality teams and production teams.
- A major part of the role is ensuring that information moves quickly and accurately between customers, the London office and factories.
- The objective is simple:
- Develop the right product, at the right price, place it with the right factory and deliver it on time and to the required quality standard.
- WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
- We are looking for someone with approximately 8–12+ years' experience in knit apparel merchandising, including meaningful experience managing a merchandising team.
- Strong experience in products such as:
- - T-shirts
- - Polos
- - Sweatshirts
- - Hoodies
- - Henleys
- - Jersey tops
- - Fashion casualwear
- Experience working with international retailers, brands, buying offices or sourcing companies is strongly preferred.
- The successful candidate should demonstrate:
- - Excellent knowledge of knit garment production.
- - Strong fabric and garment construction knowledge.
- - Strong costing and price-negotiation ability.
- - Excellent understanding of critical-path management.
- - Strong factory management skills.
- - Ability to manage multiple customers and large numbers of styles simultaneously.
- - Strong problem-solving skills.
- - Excellent written and spoken English.
- - Strong Excel/reporting ability.
- - Ability to manage and develop junior team members.
- - Confidence communicating directly with overseas commercial teams and senior management.
- THE PERSON WE WANT
- Olympia is a fast-moving entrepreneurial business.
- We therefore need someone who thinks beyond the traditional merchandising role.
- We want someone who:
- Takes ownership.
- If something is going wrong, they act rather than wait for instructions.
- Communicates early.
- Bad news communicated early can normally be managed. Problems hidden until the last minute cannot.
- Understands product.
- They can look at a garment and understand how it should be made, where it should be made and approximately what it should cost.
- Is commercially minded.
- They understand that every sourcing and production decision ultimately affects whether Olympia can win and retain business.
- Can prioritise.
- Not every problem has the same commercial importance.
- Develops people.
- We want someone capable of building a strong merchandising department underneath them.
- Is comfortable with change.
- Olympia is growing and our systems, customers, factories and product categories will continue to evolve.
- SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE
- Within the first 6–12 months, we would expect the successful candidate to have:
- - Full control and visibility of the knit development and production pipeline.
- - Established clear accountability within the merchandising team.
- - Reduced late developments and production surprises.
- - Improved development turnaround times.
- - Strengthened factory costing and negotiation.
- - Improved communication between Bangladesh and London.
- - Developed stronger factory allocation and capacity planning.
- - Created reliable reporting for all live developments and orders.
- - Built a merchandising structure capable of supporting significant growth.
- This is an important leadership position within Olympia's Bangladesh operation and offers the opportunity to play a major role in the continued development of our international apparel business.
- KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- 1. Product Development & Sampling
- Manage the knit development pipeline across multiple customers and brands.
- Responsibilities include:
- - Receive development briefs, tech packs and product requirements from Brand Leads and the Product/Design team.
- - Review developments before sending them to factories.
- - Identify suitable factories, fabrics, constructions and production methods.
- - Coordinate proto samples, fit samples, salesman samples, approval samples and other development requirements.
- - Ensure factories clearly understand all product comments and revisions.
- - Track outstanding developments and aggressively follow up delayed samples.
- - Work closely with designers and garment technologists to resolve technical or construction issues.
- - Ensure samples are commercially viable for bulk production.
- - Maintain visibility of the complete development pipeline.
- Speed of development is particularly important to Olympia's business model.
- 2. COSTING & COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT
- Take responsibility for obtaining competitive and accurate factory pricing.
- This includes:
- - Request and negotiate factory quotations.
- - Understand garment consumption, fabric prices, CM, trims, washing, printing, embroidery and other cost components.
- - Challenge factory prices where necessary.
- - Compare pricing between suppliers.
- - Identify opportunities to engineer cost without compromising the required product.
- - Maintain accurate costing records.
- - Work with management and Brand Leads to achieve required target prices.
- The Merchandising Manager must have strong commercial judgement and understand what makes a product commercially viable.
- 3. ORDER PLACEMENT & FACTORY ALLOCATION
- Once orders are confirmed:
- - Review order details before placement.
- - Confirm quantities, colours, size ratios, delivery dates and product specifications.
- - Recommend the appropriate factory based on price, capability, capacity, compliance and delivery.
- - Ensure purchase orders and factory instructions are accurate.
- - Confirm factory acceptance and production capacity.
- - Identify potential production risks before orders are committed.
- Factories should never be allocated simply because they developed the original sample.
- Olympia expects the merchandising team to continuously identify the best production solution.
- 4. CRITICAL PATH & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
- Take ownership of the complete production critical path.
- Monitor and manage:
- - Fabric booking
- - Yarn/fabric availability
- - Lab dips
- - Strike-offs
- - Trims
- - Labels and packaging
- - Fit approvals
- - PP samples
- - Size sets
- - Testing
- - Bulk fabric
- - Cutting
- - Sewing
- - Printing/embroidery/washing
- - Finishing
- - Inspection
- - Packing
- - Shipment
- The merchandising team must identify delays before they become shipment problems.
- The manager will be expected to maintain clear visibility of every live order and escalate risks early.
- 5. FACTORY MANAGEMENT
- Build strong working relationships with Olympia's manufacturing partners.
- Responsibilities include:
- - Regular factory communication and visits.
- - Monitor factory performance.
- - Challenge unrealistic production plans.
- - Verify capacity before committing orders.
- - Resolve development and production problems quickly.
- - Work closely with factory merchandising and production teams.
- - Escalate serious delivery, quality or compliance risks.
- - Help identify and onboard new factories where required.
- The role requires someone comfortable dealing directly with factory owners and senior management when necessary.
- 6. TEAM MANAGEMENT
- Lead Olympia's knit merchandising team in Bangladesh.
- Responsibilities include:
- - Allocate customers, developments and orders across the team.
- - Set priorities and deadlines.
- - Review team workload.
- - Conduct regular order and development reviews.
- - Ensure critical paths are updated.
- - Coach junior merchandisers and develop their commercial understanding.
- - Improve working processes and accountability.
- - Ensure problems are escalated rather than hidden.
- The manager should build a department capable of managing significant growth without becoming dependent on one individual.
- 7. LONDON / BANGLADESH COORDINATION
- Act as one of the key operational links between the London commercial team and Bangladesh supply base.
- Work closely with Olympia's Brand Leads to:
- - Understand customer requirements.
- - Translate buyer/product comments into clear factory actions.
- - Provide accurate development and production updates.
- - Highlight commercial or delivery risks.
- - Support preparation for buyer meetings.
- - Ensure developments required for upcoming selling periods are completed on time.
- Communication must be concise, accurate and proactive.
- The London team should not need to repeatedly chase Bangladesh for updates.
- 8. PRODUCT, DESIGN & TECHNICAL COLLABORATION
- Work closely with Olympia's Bangladesh Product/Design leadership, designers, product developers and garment technologists.
- The Merchandising Manager will primarily own the commercial execution and order pipeline, while the Product/Design team leads collection and product creation.
- Both teams must work together on:
- - Fabric sourcing
- - Product development
- - Tech packs
- - Sampling
- - Cost engineering
- - Factory selection
- - Product feasibility
- - Approval processes
- - Production readiness
- The role therefore requires someone who understands product — not simply someone who can manage spreadsheets and production dates.
- 9. QUALITY & COMPLIANCE
- Work closely with Olympia's Quality, Technical and Compliance teams to ensure orders are placed and produced with suitable factories.
- The Merchandising Manager should:
- - Understand customer quality requirements.
- - Ensure testing requirements are communicated.
- - Ensure required approvals are completed before production.
- - Work with Quality teams when problems arise.
- - Ensure only appropriately approved/compliant factories are used for relevant customers.
- - Support corrective actions when factory issues are identified.
- 10. REPORTING & MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
- Maintain clear and accurate reporting covering:
- Development Pipeline
- - New developments
- - Sample status
- - Costing status
- - Outstanding approvals
- - Target completion dates
- Order Pipeline
- - Customer
- - Brand
- - Factory
- - Style
- - Quantity
- - Order value
- - Production status
- - Ex-factory date
- - Shipment date
- - Risks/issues
- Management should be able to understand the status of the entire knit business without having to individually chase merchandisers.
Educational Requirements
Experience Requirements
- At least 8 years
- The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): Garments, Buying House
Additional Job Requirements
Location
Dhaka (Savar city)
Salary Range
Negotiable
Other Benefits
T/A,Mobile bill
Lunch Facilities: Full Subsidize
Salary Review: Yearly
Festival Bonus: 2
Annual office tour
Alternative weekends
Evening Snacks
Job Source
Bdjobs.com.bd Online Job Posting
Application Deadline : Oct 2, 2026
Company Information
Company Name:
Olympia International Limited
Address: 39, Haji Younus Ali Road, Karnapara, Ulail, Savar, Dhaka
Business: Global Garment Brands