Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation:

This role is responsible for leading & delivering Buying & Merchandising initiatives across channels (Own Retail & Franchise) to bring efficiency and create an impact to the topline and bottom line. The role is also responsible for delivering Full Price Sell-through and working closely with CTC team in ranging most consumer centric Segmentation and Assortment for the channels. The role also involves exploring & introducing best practices from Industry and other clusters which can have significant business impact.

Key Responsibilities:

Buying, Range and Inventory Management

• Assortment Planning with building seasonal assortment plans to ensure preorder target are met and incremental business opportunities are created.
• OTB planning to create sub-category, gender, store level buy plans based on historical data, future potential & market insights.
• Lead and drive end to end GTM process and deliver all key milestones like option planning, ABC grading, selections, assortment planning, range width, pre-buy alignment meetings, partner reviews, sell-in-strategy and big bets, buying alignment for all categories, etc.
• Budget Planning & Demand forecasting keeping in mind the targeted growth, category contribution across Channels.
• Partner Segmentation model i.e. support different product strategy creation to ensure differentiation across platforms and reduce cannibalization.
• Markdown Strategy for creating efficient markdown plan in accordance with Brand guidance.
• Co-owning FPST with Trading team and using insights in sharpening future buys.
• Building relationships with cross functional teams including Buying, SCM, marketing, CTC teams etc. for campaign launches, deliveries, GTM calendar activities, ERP, etc.
• Leading Automation in B&M i.e. initiatives in the direction of E2E Merchandising solutions.

Leadership

• Lead and develop the merchandising team by providing continuous coaching, learning and development opportunities.
• Take ownership for Talent Management processes to grow, develop and retain talents.
• Promote a high-performance culture by setting clear expectations and individual goals.
• Translate the company goals into team specific actions and business plans.
• Ensure the team delivers on sell-through continuous review of performance, inventory, and product trends

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent attention to detail and analysis skills
• Strong work ethic willing to put long hours of work when required
• Advanced Excel capabilities
• Excellent command of English
• Understanding of retail management systems and back office
• Structured, process oriented at the same time approachable and strong interpersonal skills
• SAP Retail, ALS knowledge is a strong advantage

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree in Fashion / Marketing / Business
• 8-10 years merchandising or product planning experience.