Weave your way to the top in home textile industry
International firm seeks merchandising manager
Individuals with adept technical skills and a keen understanding of home-decoration textiles are invited to apply for an exciting role. A growing international company with its roots in Europe would like to recruit a merchandising manager.
MDT Pacific is a global textile manufacturer and a major player in its field. While the company has its own factory in India, its Hong Kong office is responsible for sourcing on the mainland and for technical elements of the business.
'We are an international company with trendy quality products supplying the biggest retail chains in Europe,' said Kenneth de Trazegnies, MDT's director. 'We have a very open way of communicating and there are a lot of steps that a person in our company can take.'
The role focuses on sourcing new items for the business as well as developing new kinds of fabrics and helping to develop new products.
The new recruit, together with the commercial manager, will be involved in sourcing, technical support and cost calculation with the support of MDT's administrative team.
The successful candidate will also be required to assess the quality of products that MDT decides to buy and to maintain quality control during production. 'We see this role as being about product development on the technical side,' Mr de Trazegnies said.
The ideal candidate should be schooled in the textile industry with, ideally, a diploma in technical knowledge and quality textile management with strong knowledge of woven fabrics.
Applicants should also have good technical knowledge and the ability to analyse fabrics and production costs. 'You should also be very detail-oriented and practical,' Mr de Trazegnies said.
Candidates are advised that high levels of spoken and written English, Cantonese and Putonghua are required. They should also have a genuine affinity for decorative textile products, as these differ innately from garments.
'We are looking for somebody ambitious who wants to take part in a very ambitious young team, who has an open mind and is ready to learn in our company and to participate and experience with us,' Mr de Trazegnies said. 'We want people who want to grow in the business and prove themselves.'
Once on board, the successful candidate can expect to travel about 10 days in every month to different factories across the border. Travel further afield in Asia is a possibility in order to keep up to date on new technologies in woven items.
'Textiles are living products and we want [team members] to get extra training to be in the market and know what's going on,' Mr de Trazegnies said.
