Embroidery Department Lead - Tajima Production and Digitizing (San Diego)

Hiring Immediately | $22–$30 per hour | Full-Time | San Diego, CA

Position Overview

Merchy’s is hiring an experienced Embroidery Department Lead to operate and build our in-house commercial embroidery department.

This is a hands-on leadership position for someone who understands every stage of embroidery production: reviewing and editing digitized files, running multi-head machines, organizing the production schedule, troubleshooting difficult jobs, maintaining quality, and eventually training additional operators.

We are not looking for someone who only knows how to load garments and press start. We need an experienced embroidery professional who can own a job from approved artwork through final production.

Our goal is to build one of the fastest and most dependable embroidery departments in San Diego County without sacrificing quality. The department’s equipment, workflows, quality standards, and future team will be built around the person selected for this position.

About Merchy’s

Merchy’s is a fast-growing custom apparel and merchandise company serving businesses, brands, teams, organizations, and events throughout San Diego County.

Our standard is simple: Custom Done Right.

We invest in professional equipment, move quickly, and maintain high standards for quality, communication, and turnaround time. This is a production-focused environment with significant growth potential for the right leader.

Equipment

• Two Tajima six-head commercial embroidery machines
• One Barudan single-head machine for samples and sew-outs
• Commercial hoops, materials, supplies, and software provided
• Digitizing may be outsourced, but the lead must be able to evaluate and edit files before production

Primary Responsibilities: Embroidery Production

• Independently set up and operate Tajima multi-head embroidery machines
• Operate the Barudan single-head machine for sew-outs and samples
• Complete hooping, framing, threading, color changes, and machine setup
• Produce embroidery on structured hats, polos, jackets, hoodies, bags, workwear, patches, and other products
• Complete flat embroidery, puff embroidery, and specialty applications
• Run and approve sew-outs before full production
• Maintain clean backing, accurate placement, and professional finishes
• Meet production deadlines without cutting corners

Digitizing Review and File Editing

• Review DST files before production
• Identify problems with stitch density, underlay, sequencing, registration, compensation, trims, color changes, and small details
• Make production-ready digitizing edits when necessary
• Adjust files for different garments, materials, sizes, and placements
• Recognize when a design must be redigitized instead of forcing a poor-quality file into production
• Communicate clear corrections to outside digitizers when additional work is required
• Maintain organized embroidery files and approved production versions

Scheduling and Department Organization

• Build and manage the daily embroidery production schedule
• Prioritize jobs according to due dates, complexity, sew-out approval, and machine capacity
• Estimate production time and realistic completion dates
• Organize machine assignments to maximize output across the department
• Identify delays or production risks before they affect customer deadlines
• Track job status, spoilage, rework, and completed quantities
• Maintain organized thread, backing, needles, hoops, and production supplies
• Create repeatable workflows, checklists, and quality-control procedures

Quality Control and Troubleshooting

• Inspect placement, registration, tension, stitch quality, backing, and finished appearance
• Troubleshoot thread breaks, bird nesting, looping, puckering, shifting, registration problems, and needle breaks
• Select the correct needles, stabilizers, thread, hooping methods, and machine settings
• Perform routine cleaning and preventive maintenance
• Recognize mechanical problems and determine when professional machine service is needed
• Prevent avoidable spoilage and rework

Leadership

• Take ownership of department productivity, quality, organization, and deadlines
• Establish embroidery production standards for the company
• Train and supervise additional embroidery operators as volume increases
• Coordinate with the art, sales, and operations teams
• Communicate production requirements and limitations clearly
• Help determine future staffing, equipment, and workflow needs
• Build a dependable department capable of handling increasing production volume

Current Production

• Approximately 2,000-2,500 embroidered pieces per month
• Primary products include hats, jackets, hoodies, polos, workwear, and patches
• Goal of expanding production capacity over the next six months
• Sew-outs are required before production
• Quality must always meet the Merchy’s Custom Done Right standard

Required Experience

• Professional experience operating commercial multi-head embroidery machines
• Strong Tajima experience
• Experience producing structured hats and caps
• Experience with puff embroidery
• Ability to inspect and edit digitized embroidery files
• Advanced understanding of density, underlay, sequencing, compensation, registration, and stabilization
• Experience scheduling and organizing multiple embroidery jobs
• Strong troubleshooting and machine-setup skills
• Experience maintaining production quality at commercial volume
• Ability to work independently without constant supervision
• Strong communication, organization, and leadership skills
• Availability to work onsite in San Diego

Preferred Experience

• Previous embroidery lead, supervisor, or production-management experience
• Experience training and managing embroidery operators
• Experience with Barudan equipment
• Experience using professional embroidery digitizing software
• Experience creating production procedures and quality-control systems
• Basic commercial embroidery-machine maintenance experience
• Experience monitoring capacity, efficiency, spoilage, and labor time

Schedule

• Monday through Friday
• Daytime availability preferred
• Some late-afternoon or evening flexibility may be available
• Optional Saturdays based on production needs
• Part-time initially, with the opportunity to grow into full-time as production volume increases
• This is an onsite production position

Compensation

• $22–$30 per hour, depending on experience
• Performance and compensation growth as the department expands
• Per-piece compensation may be considered for the right candidate
• Profit-sharing opportunity based on eligibility and performance

This Position Is a Good Fit If You

• Can take an embroidery job from artwork review through completed production
• Know how to improve a file instead of blaming every problem on the digitizer
• Work quickly while maintaining excellent quality
• Enjoy organizing production and improving workflows
• Take ownership when problems arise
• Are comfortable leading people and establishing standards
• Want to build a department, not simply operate one machine

This Position Is Not a Fit If You

• Only have hobby or home-machine embroidery experience
• Need constant supervision to complete production
• Cannot edit or evaluate digitized embroidery files
• Have limited structured-cap or puff-embroidery experience
• Skip sew-outs or quality-control steps
• Struggle to organize multiple jobs and deadlines
• Consistently sacrifice quality for speed
• Are not interested in leading and training others

How to Apply

Please submit your résumé and answer the following questions:

• How many years of commercial embroidery-production experience do you have?
• Which Tajima and other commercial embroidery machines have you operated?
• Which digitizing or embroidery software can you use?
• Can you independently edit DST files to correct production-quality issues?
• Describe your experience with structured hats and puff embroidery.
• Have you managed a production schedule or supervised other operators?
• Approximately how many pieces or machine heads have you managed during a typical production day?
• Please provide photographs or examples of your embroidery work, if available.

Job Types: Full-time, Flexible start time

Pay: $22.00–$30.00 per hour

Work Location: In person in San Diego, California

Address: 3870 Hancock St, San Diego CA 92109

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule <]]>