Chief Operating Officer - Manufacturing - Apparel/Garment/Textile

INTERIM TEXTILE LEADERSHIP POSITION COO - MANUFACTURING

Assignment: Interim - 6 Months plus

Reporting to: CEO

Experience: 25 - 35 years

Industry: Apparel / Garment / Textile Manufacturing

About the Organisation:

Our client is a well-established, promoter-led Indian apparel and performance-clothing manufacturing group with more than three decades of operating heritage.

The Group has a large multi-location manufacturing footprint, a workforce of 8,000+ professionals and annual production capacity exceeding 20 million garments. Its businesses span rainwear, winterwear, work & safety wear, institutional/corporate apparel, fabrics and emerging climate-performance clothing.

The Group is now entering an important phase of professionalisation, scale and operational transformation, requiring stronger operating governance across its manufacturing network.

The Opportunity:

We are seeking a highly experienced Interim COO - Manufacturing to take charge of the Group's manufacturing and operations agenda for an initial six-month plus assignment.

The position reports directly to the CEO and will work closely with the Factory Heads and senior leadership team.

This is a hands-on transformation mandate, not a conventional corporate COO position. The successful candidate will be expected to rapidly understand the current operating environment, establish management discipline, strengthen Factory Head accountability and deliver measurable improvements across productivity, utilisation, quality, OTIF and people effectiveness.

Core Mandate:

The Interim COO will act as the single operating leader for the manufacturing network, bringing consistency, accountability and execution discipline across multiple factories.

The mandate will include:

• 1. Manufacturing performance
• 2. Factory leadership
• 3. Operational excellence
• 4. Quality
• 5. Productivity
• 6. Capacity and utilisation
• 7. OTIF / customer service
• 8. Workforce productivity
• 9. Cross-functional operating cadence
• 10. Management systems and KPI governance

Key Responsibilities:

1. Group Manufacturing Performance:

• Take overall ownership of manufacturing performance across the Group's factories.
• Establish a common operating rhythm across all locations.
• Review factory capacity, utilisation, productivity and cost structures.
• Drive effective capacity allocation across manufacturing locations.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and ensure rapid resolution.
• Improve production-plan adherence and OTIF performance.
• Establish clear performance accountability for Factory Heads.

2. Factory Leadership:

• Lead and mentor Factory Heads and senior manufacturing leadership.
• Conduct structured weekly operating reviews.
• Establish clear KPIs, responsibilities and escalation mechanisms.
• Assess factory leadership capability and identify succession / capability gaps.
• Strengthen professional management depth across factories.

3. Operational Excellence:

• Drive Lean / Kaizen / IE and productivity improvement initiatives.
• Standardise operating practices across factories.
• Improve line balancing and manpower productivity.
• Review machine and infrastructure utilisation.
• Identify cost-reduction and efficiency opportunities.
• Create a pipeline of measurable operational improvement projects.

4. Quality & Customer Delivery:

• Work closely with the Quality leadership team to reduce defects and rework.
• Ensure quality is integrated into the manufacturing process.
• Drive improved first-time-right performance.
• Strengthen coordination between Production, Quality, Planning and Commercial teams.
• Ensure manufacturing capability supports customer commitments.

5. Workforce Productivity:

• Review workforce deployment and productivity across locations.
• Address absenteeism, manpower shortages and seasonal workforce requirements.
• Strengthen supervisor and middle-management capability.
• Build greater accountability at the frontline.
• Work with HR on critical manufacturing talent and succession requirements.

6. Management Information & Governance:

• Establish a single manufacturing dashboard covering OTIF, Utilisation, Productivity, Quality, Manpower, Capacity, Production, Cost and Inventory / working capital implications.
• Present weekly manufacturing performance to the CEO.
• Establish monthly operating reviews.
• Ensure data-driven decision-making and rapid escalation of exceptions.

7. Transformation:

• Identify the most critical operational priorities during the first 30 days.
• Develop a 100-day manufacturing improvement agenda.
• Establish measurable baselines and targets.
• Drive execution of priority initiatives.
• Leave behind sustainable systems, processes and leadership capability at the end of the assignment.

Six-Month Plus Success Measures:

The Interim COO will be expected to establish and drive measurable improvement against agreed baselines.

Indicative Group management targets include:

• OTIF
• Factory utilisation
• Employee productivity
• Quality defects
• Inventory / working capital
• Improved operating visibility and KPI discipline
• Stronger Factory Head accountability
• Common operating standards across locations

These are proposed management targets and will be validated with the CEO at the commencement of the assignment.

Candidate Profile:

• 25 - 35 years of experience in apparel / garment / textile manufacturing.
• Significant experience managing large-scale, multi-location manufacturing operations.
• Prior experience as COO / President Operations / CEO - Manufacturing / VP Operations / Business Head / Group Operations Head or equivalent.
• Strong track record of managing multiple factories and large workforces.
• Deep understanding of apparel manufacturing, production, IE, quality and supply-chain interfaces.
• Demonstrated success in productivity improvement and manufacturing transformation.
• Strong Lean / Kaizen / operational excellence orientation.
• Experience working in promoter-led / family-owned manufacturing businesses will be highly relevant.
• Strong financial and commercial understanding of manufacturing operations.
• Experience managing seasonal demand and fluctuating capacity requirements is desirable.
• Exposure to exports, institutional business or large B2B customers will be an advantage.

Ideal Leadership Style:

We are looking for a leader who is:

• Hands-on rather than purely strategic
• Comfortable spending substantial time at factories
• Strong on data and operating metrics
• Decisive and execution-focused
• Capable of influencing experienced Factory Heads
• Comfortable working with promoters and professional management
• Strong in people development
• Able to create accountability without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
• Experienced enough to diagnose problems quickly and implement practical solutions

Interim / Retired Professionals:

Professionals who have recently retired from senior positions in leading apparel, garment, textile or manufacturing organisations and are available for a six-month interim leadership mandate are specifically encouraged to apply.

This opportunity may also suit an experienced senior executive currently working as an independent consultant / advisor who can commit to a hands-on six-month engagement.

Joining:

The selected candidate should be available to join to a maximum of 30 days from selection.