1. Position Details:

Job Title: Chief Merchandising Officer (CMO)

Function: Merchandising - Retail - Product Strategy

Industry: Fashion Apparel & Lifestyle Retail

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - Managing Director

Location: Corporate Office

Level: Executive Leadership

2. Role Purpose:

The Chief Merchandising Officer is responsible for defining and executing the overall merchandising strategy to deliver profitable sales growth, customer relevance, strong product assortments and efficient inventory management across all brands, categories and sales channels.

The role leads merchandise planning, category strategy, assortment architecture, pricing strategy, seasonal calendars, inventory productivity and merchandising organization effectiveness. The CMO partners with Design, Buying, Sourcing, Supply Chain, Retail Operations, E-commerce, Finance and Marketing to ensure the right products are available, at the right price, in the right channels, at the right time.

3. Key Responsibilities:

A. Merchandising Strategy & Business Planning:

- Develop the overall merchandising vision, strategy and annual business plan aligned with company growth and profitability objectives.

- Define category roles, portfolio priorities, consumer segments and growth opportunities.

- Establish merchandise architecture across brands, categories, price segments and channels.

- Identify opportunities for market expansion, category development and assortment differentiation.

- Translate business strategy into seasonal and annual merchandising plans.

B. Range Architecture & Assortment Planning:

- Own range width, depth, option counts, category mix and price architecture.

- Define good-better-best price ladders and opening, mid-tier and premium product propositions.

- Govern seasonal range planning, collection reviews, option approvals and assortment finalization.

- Balance fashion products, core basics, carryovers, repeats and trend-led collections.

- Ensure assortments are relevant to target consumers, market trends and brand positioning.

C. Category & Portfolio Management:

- Lead merchandising across apparel and lifestyle categories, including men's wear, women's wear, kidswear, footwear, accessories and other relevant product lines.

- Establish category-level sales, margin, growth and inventory productivity targets.

- Review category performance and implement corrective actions where required.

- Drive product portfolio optimization, category expansion and rationalization of underperforming ranges.

- Ensure consistency between category strategy, brand positioning and customer expectations.

D. Buying, Pricing & Commercial Strategy:

- Partner with Buying and Finance to develop merchandise budgets, Open-to-Buy (OTB) plans and intake margin targets.

- Define pricing architecture, promotional guardrails and markdown strategies.

- Review planned versus actual sales, gross margins, discounts and profitability.

- Ensure commercial decisions balance customer value, competitive positioning and financial returns.

- Establish governance for purchase commitments, repeat orders, cancellations and stock exit decisions.

E. Merchandise Financial Planning & Inventory Productivity:

- Own merchandise financial planning across sales, margin, inventory, stock cover and markdowns.

- Establish inventory productivity targets and monitor stock investment against business plans.

- Drive sell-through, replenishment, allocation, inter-store transfers and inventory liquidation strategies.

- Review aged stock, excess inventory, stock-outs and forecast accuracy.

- Partner with Supply Chain and Retail Operations to improve product availability and reduce inventory risk.

F. Seasonal Calendar & Product Lifecycle Management:

- Govern seasonal calendars, collection launches, product drops, capsules and in-season interventions.

- Align merchandising milestones with Design, Buying, Sourcing, Production, Marketing and channel launch dates.

- Establish timelines for range reviews, sample approvals, pricing finalization and product launch readiness.

- Drive faster response to emerging trends and changing consumer demand.

- Optimize carryover, repeat, replenishment and end-of-season exit decisions.

G. Omnichannel & Market-Specific Merchandising:

- Define merchandise strategies across Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs), Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs), department stores, D2C, e-commerce and marketplaces.

- Develop channel-specific assortment, price, option and inventory strategies.

- Govern regional, store-cluster and consumer-segment assortment differentiation.

- Establish strategies for exclusive products, Special Make-Ups (SMUs), marketplace requirements and channel-specific launches.

- Ensure a consistent brand proposition while adapting to channel economics and local demand.

H. Consumer, Market & Competitive Intelligence:

- Translate consumer insights, sales data, competitor activity and trend intelligence into merchandising decisions.

- Monitor changes in customer preferences, regional demand, price sensitivity and shopping behavior.

- Establish regular market reviews and competitor benchmarking.

- Identify emerging categories, product opportunities and assortment gaps.

- Partner with Design and Marketing to align product direction with consumer and brand insights.

I. Organization Design & Leadership:

- Design the merchandising organization structure across categories, brands, channels and geographies.

- Establish clear roles, responsibilities, decision rights and reporting lines.

- Define appropriate spans of control, team capacity and support ratios.

- Build leadership capability across category heads, merchandising managers, merchandisers, planners and analysts.

- Establish performance objectives, succession plans, talent development and accountability frameworks.

- Promote collaboration, commercial discipline and data-led decision-making.

J. Performance Management & Analytics:

- Establish merchandising KPIs, performance dashboards and management review routines.

- Monitor sales achievement, gross margin, sell-through, stock turnover, markdowns and inventory health.

- Review planned versus actual performance and drive timely corrective actions.

- Leverage ERP, merchandise planning systems, business intelligence and automation to improve productivity.

- Continuously improve planning accuracy, decision speed and organizational effectiveness.

K. Governance & Cross-functional Collaboration:

- Partner with the CEO, CFO and other business leaders on commercial strategy and performance.

- Collaborate with Design, Buying, Sourcing, Quality, Supply Chain, Retail, E-commerce and Marketing.

- Establish governance for range approvals, financial reviews, seasonal sign-offs and exception management.

- Ensure compliance with company policies, product standards and applicable regulatory requirements.

- Drive continuous improvement in merchandising processes, controls and operating discipline.

4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

The CMO's performance will be evaluated against an agreed set of financial, commercial, operational and organizational measures.

Financial performance:

- Net sales growth and sales plan achievement

- Gross margin and intake margin achievement

- Markdown and discount rate

- Category and channel profitability

Merchandise performance:

- Sell-through rate

- Full-price sell-through

- Stock turnover and inventory productivity

- Stock cover and aged inventory

- Product availability and stock-out rate

- Forecast accuracy and assortment productivity

Operational performance:

- Seasonal launch readiness and on-time delivery

- Range finalization within agreed timelines

- Replenishment effectiveness

- OTB adherence and inventory commitment control

Organizational performance:

- Team productivity and capacity utilization

- Role clarity and organization effectiveness

- Talent development and leadership succession

- Planning process efficiency and analytics adoption

5. Organization Scope:

The role may lead or oversee the following teams, depending on the operating model:

- Central Merchandising and Category Management

- Merchandise Planning and Financial Planning

- Assortment Planning and Range Architecture

- Merchandising Analytics and Business Intelligence

- Channel and Regional Merchandising

- Inventory Productivity and Trading Support

Buying, Design, Sourcing and Supply Chain may be direct reports or separate functions working in close partnership with the CMO.

6. Qualifications & Experience:

- Bachelor's degree in Fashion Management, Fashion Merchandising, Retail Management, Business Administration or a related field.

- Postgraduate qualification in Fashion Management, Retail Management, Business Administration or a related discipline is desirable.

- Typically 15 - 20+ years of experience in fashion, apparel or lifestyle retail, with substantial leadership experience.

- Demonstrated experience leading large-scale merchandising, category management or merchandise planning functions.

- Strong understanding of apparel and lifestyle categories, seasonal calendars, assortment planning, pricing and inventory management.

- Experience managing multi-brand, multi-category or omnichannel retail businesses.

- Proven track record in commercial planning, margin improvement, inventory productivity and business growth.

- Experience designing organizational structures, leading senior teams and managing cross-functional stakeholders.

7. Core Competencies:

- Strategic and commercial thinking

- Customer and product understanding

- Merchandise financial planning

- Category and portfolio management

- Data analytics and decision-making

- Leadership and talent development

- Cross-functional collaboration

- Change management and process improvement

- Negotiation and stakeholder management

- Execution excellence and accountability

8. Key Leadership Expectations:

The Chief Merchandising Officer is expected to build a customer-centric, commercially disciplined and analytically driven merchandising function that balances growth, profitability, product relevance and inventory efficiency.

The role must ensure that merchandising decisions are aligned with brand positioning, consumer demand, channel strategy and financial objectives while building the organization, talent and systems required to scale the business sustainably.