Production Manager, LATAM

About Better Swag Better Swag makes swag people actually keep. We design and produce custom merch, uniforms, and gifts for fast-growing tech companies and consumer brands, from 50-piece rush orders to multi-thousand-unit programs. We are a small, senior team that leans on technology: our own catalog and proposal platform, on-demand fulfillment, and AI tools across the business. Our founding team has spent over a decade in swag manufacturing. You run production. Every order passes through you: you work closely with vendors, lock the timeline, chase every proof and ship date, and make sure it lands by the in-hands date. When sales has a client who needs something custom in ten days, you already know who can make it. What you will own Vendors • Own every relationship with our decorators (screen print, embroidery, DTF, DTG, laser and hard goods), blank distributors, and overseas factories. • Send clean POs with art, placements, quantities, and ship dates. Approve proofs and sew-outs before anything runs. • Know each vendor's strengths, minimums, lead times, and pricing, and route every job to the right one. • Negotiate pricing, rush fees, and terms. Hold vendors to quality and dates, and replace the ones that keep missing. Orders, on time • Build every order's timeline backward from the client's in-hands date: blanks, decoration, QC, shipping. • Order blanks, confirm stock and substitutes, and track every shipment into the decorator. • Run the production board daily. Every open order has a status and a committed ship date. • Flag any order at risk at least 48 hours before it slips, with a fix already in hand. • Own quality: check proofs, photos, and samples before goods ship, and resolve misprints and shortages with the vendor. • Coordinate shipping, including multi-address drops and international DDP. New vendors and rush support for sales • When sales needs something we have not made before (custom plush, enamel pins, cut-and-sew, packaging), find who can make it and come back with price, lead time, and a sample plan within one business day. • Give sales fast feasibility answers: can we decorate this, which method, what it costs, when it lands. • Build a bench of vetted backup vendors in every category so no order depends on one shop. • Join client calls when the question is production. • 5+ years in production or operations at a promotional products company or a decoration shop. You have run the orders, the floor, or both. • You know how the swag industry works: distributors, suppliers, decorators, ESP or SAGE, minimums, setup fees, and who actually makes what. • Expert in decoration: screen print, embroidery, DTF, DTG, sublimation, heat transfer, laser engraving, pad print, debossing. You know what each looks like, what it costs, what breaks it, and how long it takes. • Fluent in blanks: brands, fabric weights, fits, decoration compatibility, and where to find stock fast. • Well connected. You have decorators, factories, and suppliers you can call today, in the US, Latin America, or Asia. • Overseas sourcing experience: custom molds, factory samples, air versus ocean freight, duties, and DDP. • Based in Latin America and able to work US Eastern business hours. • Fluent Englis and Spanish, written and spoken. • Calm and fast under deadline. You can run 30+ open orders at once without dropping one. • Fluent English • Spanish, for suppliers across Latin America. • Cut-and-sew, custom packaging, kitting, and fulfillment experience. • International shipping and customs paperwork. • Comfortable in Trello, Airtable, QuickBooks, and WhatsApp vendor groups. • You already use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to move faster.