Apparel Production QC Specialist

Reports to: Director of Production

Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site)

Employment Type: Full-Time, Hourly, Non-Exempt

About Wantable  

At Wantable, we’re redefining retail through personalization. Our membership-based model and proprietary technology empower us to curate products that help customers discover confidence and joy through style. 

As a data-driven fashion company, we combine human intuition with algorithmic intelligence to  deliver personalized assortments – balancing creativity, analytics, and operational precision. 

We’re seeking an Apparel Production QC Specialist who combines strong apparel construction and quality expertise with sound judgment, high ownership, and a proactive approach to identifying and resolving production risks before they impact quality or delivery.

About The Role

The Apparel Production QC Specialist is responsible for protecting product quality, production readiness, and execution across Wantable apparel production. This is a high-ownership role responsible for evaluating product against approved standards, identifying quality and production risks early, conducting and reviewing quality inspections, monitoring key production milestones, communicating directly with factories and internal teams, and driving identified issues through resolution.

You will be expected to do more than identify problems. This role follows issues through to closure, escalates when necessary, and takes action to prevent quality, technical, or production issues from negatively impacting product quality or delivery. Within established standards, this role is expected to exercise independent judgment, make day-to-day quality decisions, identify risks, and determine appropriate next actions.

The work of this role directly impacts product quality, on-time delivery, customer experience, margin, and operational efficiency. Success requires strong apparel knowledge, disciplined follow-through, effective cross-functional communication, data fluency, and responsible use of automation and AI to improve visibility, accuracy, consistency, and speed. 

What You'll Do

Domestic Production Quality Control

• Own day-to-day quality-control execution for assigned apparel styles throughout the production process.
• Conduct in-line and on-site quality inspections at local domestic contractors, evaluating workmanship, construction, measurements, materials, and overall product execution against approved standards.
• Review PP, TOP, sew-by, and other production samples for quality, construction, workmanship, measurements, and consistency.
• Compare product against approved samples, tech packs, graded specifications, construction requirements, fabrics, trims, and established quality standards.
• Identify defects, measurement issues, construction problems, inconsistencies, and deviations before they create larger production or quality problems.
• Make independent day-to-day quality decisions within established standards, determining when identified issues may proceed, require correction, or need escalation.
• Clearly communicate QC findings, required corrections, ownership, and next actions to the appropriate factory, contractor, or internal partner.
• Own the investigation, tracking, and resolution of QC issues until corrective actions are completed and verified.
• Identify root causes and coordinate corrective action with vendors, contractors, and internal teams to prevent repeat issues.
• Maintain QC issue tracking and use findings to identify recurring defects, vendor trends, internal process issues, and opportunities for prevention.

Import Production Quality Control

• Review third-party import inspection reports and supporting documentation for completed inspections.
• Evaluate inspection findings against Wantable quality standards and approved product requirements.
• Determine pass/fail disposition within established guidelines and escalate significant, questionable, or high-risk findings to Production leadership.
• Identify recurring import quality issues and communicate required corrective actions to vendors.
• Maintain timely review, disposition, and follow-up of import inspection reports to prevent unnecessary shipping delays.

Production Monitoring & Issue Resolution

• Monitor key production milestones and actual factory progress to identify risks that could impact product quality or delivery.
• Proactively identify delays, inconsistencies, missing information, and production risks before they develop into larger problems.
• Use WIP, exception reporting, and production information from WW Data Entry to identify styles requiring immediate attention.
• Follow up directly with factories, contractors, and internal teams when production issues require action.
• Protect production deadlines by identifying risks early and driving appropriate corrective or preventive action.
• Escalate delays, quality concerns, technical issues, missing information, and other production risks quickly and clearly.
• Own follow-through on identified production issues, ensuring required actions are assigned, documented, tracked, and fully closed.
• Confirm that reported factory progress is consistent with available production, technical, and QC information.
• Communicate risks early rather than waiting until a production deadline has already been missed.
• Escalate commercial, costing, capacity, freight, or significant delivery decisions to Production leadership.

Technical Production Readiness

• Own the QC verification portion of the Tech Design-to-Production handoff.
• Verify that tech packs and related technical documentation accurately represent the approved product before production release.
• Review construction pages, BOMs, graded specifications, pattern information, fabrics, trims, measurements, and other critical production requirements for accuracy and completeness.
• Identify discrepancies between the physical product and technical documentation before they affect production.
• Partner directly with Tech Design to resolve technical inconsistencies, discrepancies, or incomplete information.
• Verify that required corrections have been completed before production progresses.
• Flag styles that are not technically or quality-ready for production.
• Escalate unresolved technical issues when they create risk to product quality or production timelines.

Factory & Contractor Communication

• Communicate directly with factories and contractors regarding quality, technical, production-readiness, and production-execution issues.
• Provide clear, specific, and actionable feedback that defines the problem, required correction, ownership, and expected next action.
• Follow up on corrective actions and confirm that agreed-upon changes have been completed.
• Ask questions and investigate when factory status, documentation, production information, or product execution does not align.
• Escalate factory delays or unresolved issues when they create risk to quality or delivery.
• Build productive working relationships with factories and contractors while maintaining clear Wantable standards and accountability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Production, Tech Design, Product Development, Shipping, WW Data Entry, the Sample Coordinator, and other relevant partners.
• Coordinate across functions to prevent quality, technical, and production issues from becoming downstream problems.
• Use information maintained by WW Data Entry to prioritize exceptions and production risks requiring action.
• Partner with the Sample Coordinator to ensure required samples are available for timely QC review.
• Communicate decisions, required actions, owners, and deadlines clearly so each team understands its responsibility.
• Escalate issues directly to the appropriate decision-maker without unnecessary layers or bureaucracy.
• Serve as the primary Production point of contact for quality issues reported by the Fulfillment Center, coordinating investigation, corrective action, communication, and closure.

AI, Data & Continuous Improvement

• Use AI tools to organize and summarize QC findings, corrective actions, inspection information, and factory communications.
• Use AI and production data to identify recurring defects, quality patterns, vendor issues, and emerging production risks.
• Develop and maintain standardized digital QC checklists that improve consistency and reduce missed issues.
• Use WIP dashboards, exception reporting, and available production data to focus attention on styles with the greatest quality or delivery risk.
• Partner with WW Data Entry and relevant stakeholders to automate repetitive QC reporting and administrative documentation where practical.
• Track meaningful quality and production measures, including defect rates, first-pass approvals, correction cycles, recurring issues, and preventable delays.
• Identify opportunities to reduce rework, improve first-pass quality, shorten issue-resolution time, and prevent recurring production problems.
• Use AI copilots and automation as productivity multipliers while independently validating outputs and applying professional judgment to all quality and production decisions.

Additional Functions

• Other duties as assigned. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

What We're Looking For

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel locally to domestic contractors as required.
• Spanish and English bilingual communication capability.
• 2+ years of relevant experience in apparel production, garment quality control, apparel manufacturing, or a closely related environment.
• Strong working knowledge of apparel construction, garment manufacturing, workmanship, measurements, and production quality standards.
• Ability to identify garment defects, construction issues, measurement problems, workmanship concerns, and inconsistencies that may create downstream risk.
• Working knowledge of tech packs, graded specifications, BOMs, patterns, fabrics, trims, and garment-construction requirements.
• Sound judgment and confidence making independent day-to-day quality decisions within established standards.
• Strong problem-solving and root-cause-analysis capabilities, with a bias toward resolving and preventing issues rather than simply reporting them.
• Strong attention to detail paired with the ability to prioritize risk and understand broader production impact.
• Demonstrated ownership and follow-through, including the discipline to keep issues open until corrective action is completed and verified.
• Ability to prioritize multiple styles, deadlines, inspections, and production risks in a fast-moving apparel environment.
• Clear, confident communication skills and the ability to work directly with factories, contractors, and cross-functional partners.
• Comfort working with spreadsheets, production systems, dashboards, digital workflows, AI copilots, and modern productivity tools.
• Ability to interpret production and QC data and use it to prioritize attention and support decisions.

Nice To Have

• Working knowledge of Apple technology.
• Familiarity with Google Workspace (Drive, Gmail, Docs, and Sheets).

Physical & Work Requirements

• This position is fully onsite in our Los Angeles office.
• Ability to frequently stand and walk for extended periods while conducting quality inspections in apparel production, contractor, warehouse, and related work environments.
• Ability to regularly bend, stoop, reach, crouch, and move around production areas to inspect garments, materials, workmanship, and production processes.
• Ability to frequently use hands and fingers to handle, examine, measure, manipulate, and inspect garments, fabrics, trims, samples, and related materials.
• Ability to visually inspect garments and materials closely for workmanship, construction, measurement, color, fabric, and other quality-related inconsistencies.
• Ability to lift, carry, move, and reposition samples, garments, boxes, and production materials weighing up to 25 pounds.
• Ability to move safely through active production and contractor environments, which may include periods of sustained standing and walking.
• Ability to travel locally to domestic contractors and other production-related locations as business needs require.
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.

You'll Thrive Here If You

• You take ownership of outcomes and follow issues through to verified resolution.
• You identify risks early and communicate them while there is still time to act.
• You are comfortable making informed decisions independently while knowing when escalation is appropriate.
• You combine strong attention to product detail with an understanding of the broader impact on delivery, margin, operations, and the customer.
• You use data, systems, automation, and AI to make work more accurate and efficient without outsourcing your judgment or accountability.
• You are comfortable being hands-on, moving quickly, and doing the detailed work required to protect product quality.
• You build productive relationships while maintaining clear standards and accountability.

How We Work At Wantable

• High ownership. You move work forward, solve problems independently, and deliver measurable results.
• Independent decision making. You use data and judgment to make daily decisions within defined parameters.
• Little bureaucracy. We value lean processes, clear communication, and quick iteration.
• Hard work with purpose. You are comfortable doing detailed, focused work that directly impacts the customer.
• Data-driven mindset. You rely on metrics and structured systems to identify risk and improve performance.
• Love for fashion and apparel. You take pride in product quality, fit, and craftsmanship.

Why Wantable?

• Be part of a dynamic, fast-growing company that has innovation and creativity embedded in its DNA.
• A chance to shape our customers’ journey and leave a lasting impact on their self-confidence, one order at a time.
• Join a collaborative environment where your ideas matter, your efforts are rewarded and you can see results in real time.

We have a laid-back, casual environment in a state-of-the-art HQ in Walkers Point.

We offer flexible schedules, paid parental leave (mothers AND fathers), and a private room for nursing mothers.

Even more exciting: paid vacation and seven paid holidays per year, plus a 50% discount on all merchandise and a generous 50% discount on 41Fork Exchange located in the Wantable Cafe at our Corporate HQ in Walker's Point. You’ll be eligible for the discount on your first day!

Important, but maybe less thrilling: we have ample parking, we offer medical (traditional and high deductible), dental, and vision insurance, as well as a 401K (both pre-tax and Roth options).