Production Manager, LATAM

• 5+ years in production or operations at a promotional products company or a decoration shop. You have run the orders, the floor, or both.
• You know how the swag industry works: distributors, suppliers, decorators, ESP or SAGE, minimums, setup fees, and who actually makes what.
• Expert in decoration: screen print, embroidery, DTF, DTG, sublimation, heat transfer, laser engraving, pad print, debossing. You know what each looks like, what it costs, what breaks it, and how long it takes.
• Fluent in blanks: brands, fabric weights, fits, decoration compatibility, and where to find stock fast.
• Well connected. You have decorators, factories, and suppliers you can call today, in the US, Latin America, or Asia.
• Overseas sourcing experience: custom molds, factory samples, air versus ocean freight, duties, and DDP.
• Based in Latin America and able to work US Eastern business hours.
• Fluent Englis and Spanish, written and spoken.
• Calm and fast under deadline. You can run 30+ open orders at once without dropping one.

You run production. Every order passes through you: you work closely with vendors, lock the timeline, chase every proof and ship date, and make sure it lands by the in-hands date. When sales has a client who needs something custom in ten days, you already know who can make it.

What you will own

Vendors

• Own every relationship with our decorators (screen print, embroidery, DTF, DTG, laser and hard goods), blank distributors, and overseas factories.
• Send clean POs with art, placements, quantities, and ship dates. Approve proofs and sew-outs before anything runs.
• Know each vendor's strengths, minimums, lead times, and pricing, and route every job to the right one.
• Negotiate pricing, rush fees, and terms. Hold vendors to quality and dates, and replace the ones that keep missing.

Orders, on time

• Build every order's timeline backward from the client's in-hands date: blanks, decoration, QC, shipping.
• Order blanks, confirm stock and substitutes, and track every shipment into the decorator.
• Run the production board daily. Every open order has a status and a committed ship date.
• Flag any order at risk at least 48 hours before it slips, with a fix already in hand.
• Own quality: check proofs, photos, and samples before goods ship, and resolve misprints and shortages with the vendor.
• Coordinate shipping, including multi-address drops and international DDP.

New vendors and rush support for sales

• When sales needs something we have not made before (custom plush, enamel pins, cut-and-sew, packaging), find who can make it and come back with price, lead time, and a sample plan within one business day.
• Give sales fast feasibility answers: can we decorate this, which method, what it costs, when it lands.
• Build a bench of vetted backup vendors in every category so no order depends on one shop.
• Join client calls when the question is production.
• Fluent English
• Spanish, for suppliers across Latin America.
• Cut-and-sew, custom packaging, kitting, and fulfillment experience.
• International shipping and customs paperwork.
• Comfortable in Trello, Airtable, QuickBooks, and WhatsApp vendor groups.
• You already use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to move faster.