Pre-Production Coordinator

Job Description

Job Description

Apparel/Swim Pre-Production Coordinator – Private Label Program

Los Angeles, CA | Full-Time, On-Site | $70,000+ DOE

An established private-label apparel and swimwear company with more than 20 years of industry experience is seeking a detail-oriented Pre-Production Coordinator to support growing private-label programs and internal product initiatives. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with Walmart programs and private-label apparel, with swimwear and/or activewear experience strongly preferred. Men’s apparel/swimwear experience is particularly valuable as the company continues to expand its men’s business.

This position manages the pre-production process from development and material approval through production readiness, working closely with overseas mills, vendors, factories, testing partners, and major retail customers. The successful candidate will bring strong technical knowledge of fabrics, trims, color approval, garment testing, and retailer requirements, as well as the ability to understand why an issue occurred and work with suppliers to develop practical solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage pre-production timelines, T&A calendars, and critical path milestones across multiple private-label programs and product categories.
• Coordinate development and approval of fabrics, colors, lab dips, strike-offs, trims, labels, packaging, and product samples to ensure all requirements are met prior to bulk production.
• Manage color approval processes, including communication with mills and factories and ensuring colors meet retailer and customer specifications.
• Coordinate and track fabric testing and garment testing, reviewing results and working with mills, factories, and vendors to identify the root cause of failures and determine appropriate corrective actions.
• Maintain and track development, advertising, fit, approval, and production samples throughout the pre-production process.
• Partner with overseas mills, vendors, and factories to monitor development, troubleshoot issues, communicate approvals, and keep programs on schedule.
• Review technical issues involving fabric construction, performance, trims, color, testing, labeling, and packaging, and work proactively with suppliers to develop solutions.
• Ensure product execution meets customer specifications, retailer requirements, quality standards, and production deadlines.
• Support major private-label retail programs, with Walmart experience required
• Work within Walmart systems/portals, maintaining accurate product, approval, testing, and compliance information.
• Maintain required sustainability, compliance, and certification documentation, including GRS, RCS, and BCI requirements.
• Identify potential development, testing, quality, and supply-chain risks early and communicate issues and recommended solutions to internal and external partners.
• Coordinate the movement of physical development and approval packages between the company, mills, factories, testing facilities, and retail customers.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in apparel pre-production, product development, production coordination, or a closely related function.
• Current or recent Walmart experience. Candidates should have direct experience supporting Walmart programs and be familiar with its current processes and requirements.
• Private-label experience is required. Experience working specifically with private-label retail programs is highly preferred over a primarily branded-apparel background.
• Swimwear experience strongly preferred, with women’s and/or men’s swim experience valuable.
• Men’s apparel/swimwear experience is a strong plus given the company’s growing men’s business.
• Activewear experience is also highly valued.
• Strong technical understanding of fabrics, fabric construction, trims, color, labeling, packaging, and garment execution.
• Demonstrated understanding of fabric approval, color approval, fabric testing, and garment testing processes.
• Ability to understand why a fabric, garment, color, or component failed testing and work with suppliers to determine an effective solution.
• Experience working directly with overseas mills, vendors, factories, and testing facilities.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple programs, deadlines, approvals, and samples simultaneously.
• Experience with major retailer requirements, testing, compliance, sustainability, and product approvals.
• Experience with color-management systems and tools such as Coloro/ColorFlow, X-Rite/iQC10, or comparable systems.
• Spectrophotometer/color measurement experience strongly preferred, including familiarity with Walmart's color management processes and the transmission of color data/results to Walmart teams.
• Strong communication, follow-through, problem-solving, and attention to detail.

Work Environment & Location

• Full-time, 5 days per week in the Los Angeles office.
• This is an on-site role due to the hands-on nature of the position, including the frequent receipt, review, organization, approval, and shipment of physical fabric, color, trim, and product-development packages.

Compensation

$70,000–$80,000+ per year, depending on experience and qualifications. Exceptional candidates with highly relevant Walmart, private-label, swim/activewear, and technical pre-production experience may be considered above the stated range.

The Perfect Candidate:

Someone who can hit the ground running in a Walmart private-label environment and understands the technical side of apparel pre-production—not simply someone who has managed timelines.

In particular, the company is looking for someone who can:

• Understand Walmart's current requirements and processes
• Navigate private-label programs from development through production
• Understand fabric and trim construction and performance
• Manage color approvals and color measurement
• Understand fabric and garment testing
• Diagnose why something failed, rather than simply reporting the failure
• Work directly with mills and factories to solve technical problems
• Manage physical samples and approvals with strong attention to detail
• Operate effectively in a fast-paced, highly hands-on environment
• The ideal candidate is a technically knowledgeable private-label apparel professional—not a primarily branded-apparel candidate who will need to learn the private-label/Walmart environment from scratch.