General Manager - South India
Remote•India•Full-time
About the Job
JOB DESCRIPTION.
General Manager.
South India Office (New) — Coimbatore Region.
Location: South India — home-based, ideally in or near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Coverage region spans roughly from Bengaluru and Chennai south to Madurai.
Work Arrangement: Work-from-home initially, with heavy daily travel to mills and supplier locations. Office space will be established as the operation grows.
Department: South India Branch Operations (New).
General Manager.
South India Office (New) — Coimbatore Region.
Location: South India — home-based, ideally in or near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Coverage region spans roughly from Bengaluru and Chennai south to Madurai.
Work Arrangement: Work-from-home initially, with heavy daily travel to mills and supplier locations. Office space will be established as the operation grows.
Department: South India Branch Operations (New).
Reports To: Senior Leadership, North Carolina Headquarters (USA).
Employment Type: Full-Time.
Travel: Extensive in-region travel (most days of the week) to mills across South India; occasional travel to North Carolina, USA and to our existing Surat office in Gujarat.
Company Overview:
Headquartered in North Carolina, USA, VenTara Corporation/Hi-Tech Fabrics is a trusted supplier of high-quality fabrics sourced from across the globe. In India, we currently operate an established branch office in Surat, Gujarat that handles quality control, sourcing, fabric development, and logistics for our North Indian mill base. We are now expanding into South India to better serve our customers, build relationships with mills in the region, and broaden the range of fabrics we can offer. The General Manager of the new South India Office will be the founding leader of this expansion.
Position Summary:
The General Manager (GM) — South India Office is responsible for launching, building, and running our presence in South India. This is a senior, hands-on, entrepreneurial role for someone who is comfortable starting from a blank page. Day to day, the GM will travel across the region to visit mills, inspect fabric, negotiate pricing and terms, source new mill partners, develop new fabrics for our customers, coordinate shipping and logistics, and manage the office’s paperwork and finances. As the operation grows, the GM will hire and train staff, set up a physical office, and build out a full QC, sourcing, and logistics team mirroring our Surat operation. The GM reports directly to senior leadership at our North Carolina headquarters and acts as the company’s most senior representative in South India.
Key Responsibilities.
Mill Visits, Sourcing, and New Mill Development:
Travel: Extensive in-region travel (most days of the week) to mills across South India; occasional travel to North Carolina, USA and to our existing Surat office in Gujarat.
Company Overview:
Headquartered in North Carolina, USA, VenTara Corporation/Hi-Tech Fabrics is a trusted supplier of high-quality fabrics sourced from across the globe. In India, we currently operate an established branch office in Surat, Gujarat that handles quality control, sourcing, fabric development, and logistics for our North Indian mill base. We are now expanding into South India to better serve our customers, build relationships with mills in the region, and broaden the range of fabrics we can offer. The General Manager of the new South India Office will be the founding leader of this expansion.
Position Summary:
The General Manager (GM) — South India Office is responsible for launching, building, and running our presence in South India. This is a senior, hands-on, entrepreneurial role for someone who is comfortable starting from a blank page. Day to day, the GM will travel across the region to visit mills, inspect fabric, negotiate pricing and terms, source new mill partners, develop new fabrics for our customers, coordinate shipping and logistics, and manage the office’s paperwork and finances. As the operation grows, the GM will hire and train staff, set up a physical office, and build out a full QC, sourcing, and logistics team mirroring our Surat operation. The GM reports directly to senior leadership at our North Carolina headquarters and acts as the company’s most senior representative in South India.
Key Responsibilities.
Mill Visits, Sourcing, and New Mill Development:
- Travel daily across South India — with heavy activity in and around Coimbatore, and regular trips covering Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Salem, Madurai, and other key textile hubs — to meet with mills.
- Identify, evaluate, and onboard new mills in the region that match our quality and capacity requirements.
- Build and maintain strong, professional relationships with mill owners, merchandisers, and production teams.
- Stay current on the South Indian textile market, including capacity, capabilities, raw material trends, and competitive activity.
Quality Control and Fabric Inspection:
- Personally inspect fabric at the mill against company and customer quality standards, especially in the early stages before a local QC team is in place.
- Identify quality issues quickly and drive resolution with the mill, including reinspection, rework, claims, and corrective action plans.
- Establish and document QC processes, checklists, and reporting standards for the South India operation.
Price Negotiation and Commercial Terms:
- Negotiate fabric pricing, payment terms, lead times, and minimum order quantities with mills to protect margin and ensure on-time delivery.
- Track raw material trends (cotton, yarn, dyes), currency movements, and market conditions, and use them to inform negotiations and customer pricing.
- Ensure all commercial commitments are documented and communicated clearly to North Carolina headquarters.
Fabric Development:
- Work directly with mills and customers to develop new fabrics — from initial concept and lab dips through sampling and commercial production.
- Coordinate construction, finishing, and testing requirements with mills to meet customer specifications.
- Manage development timelines so that customer deadlines are consistently met.
Shipping, Logistics, and Documentation:
- Coordinate booking, container loading, export documentation, and on-time shipment of orders from South India to the United States and other destinations.
- Work with freight forwarders, shipping lines, and customs agents to control costs and resolve delays.
- Ensure full compliance with Indian export regulations, customs requirements, and applicable trade documentation.
Office Administration, Paperwork, and Finance:
- Manage paperwork and financial records for the South India operation.
- Maintain accurate records and submit timely reports to North Carolina headquarters.
- Help establish a physical office in South India when the operation reaches the right scale, including site selection, lease, setup, and basic infrastructure.
- Ensure the operation runs in full compliance with Indian labor, tax, and corporate regulations.
Reporting, Communication, and Tools:
- Build, complete, and maintain regular reports in Microsoft Excel covering inspections, shipments, mill activity, quality issues, costs, and other key metrics.
- Manage email correspondence professionally through Microsoft Outlook with mills, customers, and the North Carolina team.
- Provide regular operational, quality, and commercial updates to headquarters via written reports, calls, and video meetings.
- Be responsive across time zones — South India and U.S. East Coast — with reliable communication.
Hiring, Training, and Team Building:
- Hire, onboard, and train new employees as the operation grows, including QC inspectors, sourcing staff, and logistics coordinators.
- Set clear performance expectations and develop the team into a high-performing branch office.
- Build a culture of accountability, integrity, professionalism, and continuous improvement from day one.
Problem Solving and General Leadership:
- Act as the senior decision-maker on the ground in South India, escalating to North Carolina headquarters when appropriate.
- Anticipate and resolve issues across quality, production, logistics, finance, and customer service quickly and professionally.
- Represent the company’s values, brand, and standards in every interaction with mills, vendors, and customers.
Qualifications.
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Textiles, Business Administration, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field. A Master’s degree (MBA or equivalent) is a plus.
- Minimum of 10–15 years of progressive experience in the Indian textile and/or apparel industry, with at least 5 years in a leadership or senior management role.
- Strong working knowledge of South Indian mills, particularly in the Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Karur, and Salem clusters.
- Deep technical understanding of woven and/or knitted fabrics, mill operations, and quality control standards used by U.S. and international buyers.
- Proven experience negotiating with mills on price, payment terms, and delivery.
- Solid understanding of export documentation, Indian customs, and international shipping from India.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Excel (formulas, pivot tables, basic data analysis) and Microsoft Outlook.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; working knowledge of Tamil strongly preferred. Kannada, Telugu, and/or Hindi are a plus.
- Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel extensively across South India most days of the week.
Preferred:
- Prior experience working with U.S. or European buying offices, importers, or brands.
- Experience opening or building out a new branch office, sourcing office, or QC operation.
- Familiarity with fabric testing standards (AATCC, ASTM, ISO) and common third-party testing labs.
- Comfort with ERP systems and modern collaboration tools (Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc.).
Core Competencies:
- Entrepreneurial Drive: Comfortable building from scratch — owning a region, a P&L, and the long-term plan.
- Leadership: Inspires confidence with mills, customers, and future team members; leads by example.
- Commercial Acumen: Strong negotiator with sound judgment on pricing, margin, and risk.
- Quality Mindset: Holds mills to a high standard with no shortcuts.
- Self-Direction: Operates independently with minimal supervision while keeping HQ well informed.
- Communication: Clear, professional, and culturally aware in dealings with mills, customers, and the U.S. team.
- Integrity: Uncompromising ethics in vendor relationships, financial matters, and people management.
- Resilience: Handles long travel days, complex problems, and ambiguity with composure.
What We Offer:
- A founding leadership opportunity to launch and shape our new South India operation.
- Direct reporting line to senior leadership at our North Carolina headquarters and visibility across the entire business.
- Competitive salary, performance incentives, and benefits commensurate with a senior leadership role.
- Travel reimbursement and tools required to perform the role effectively.
- Clear growth path as the operation scales from a one-person remote setup to a full branch office.
- A collaborative, professional, and respectful work environment.
How to Apply:
Qualified candidates are invited to submit a current resume and a brief cover letter outlining relevant experience, regional knowledge, and salary expectations. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews. Our company is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, gender, caste, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status under applicable law.
About Ventara
VenTara Corporation/Hi-Tech Fabrics creates innovative and quality textiles designed to provide the highest value products across the globe. We accomplish this by utilizing generations of manufacturing, engineering, and sourcing expertise in textile production. Our company supplies virtually every type of textiles for any product, industry, and application. In short, we are the most versatile and reliable textile company in the world