General Manager - Visual Merchandising & Growth

Role Overview

The Merchandising Head (National Role- Multiple Regions) will lead the national visual merchandising strategy, driving regional growth and transformation of in-store experience across all Apollo Pharmacy formats (3000+ stores). This role will champion in-store branding, innovative display concepts, and aligning key FMCG initiatives with Regional Operations teams to own & drive FMCG P&L

Key Responsibilities

- Define and drive visual merchandising vision; establish distinctive in-store environments across all Categories and regions to elevate customer experience

- Partner with operations and category teams to deliver AOP Targets across regions

- Support rapid store expansion with timely planning and execution of new store merchandising

- Use analytics to identify growth opportunities and guide operations teams to implement strategies at store level

- Translate brand and category initiatives into impactful regional visual strategies, ensuring adaptation across stores

- Oversee execution of displays, planograms, POS branding, new store launches, and seasonal visual campaigns at a national scale.

- Lead a team of regional VM managers to drive VM execution, training store teams, and ensuring SOP adherence

- Stay ahead of global and local trends in retail design, shopper behaviour, and digital merchandising, introducing best-in-class practices for competitive differentiation.

- Manage budgets for regional visual merchandising initiatives and ensure innovative yet cost-effective implementation at scale.

Required Skills & Qualifications

- MBA from a Tier-1 B-School

- Minimum 4-5 years' experience in retail visual merchandising, or related retail transformation roles.

- Must have led diverse teams.

- Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into execution at scale, bridging national standards and regional implementation.

- Strong commercial and analytical orientation

- Strong communicator, influencer, and collaborator across functions and levels.