Roles / Responsibilities:

1. Business Planning and Budgeting

- Participate in the annual business planning and provide inputs to the top management. Create the overall product and merchandizing strategy for the business

- Analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats vis a vis competition and assess market opportunity

- Oversee the category management with the objective of maximizing sales and profits Plan and approve the merchandising budget for the category/brand

2. Buying

- Forecasting Group sales demand per channel.

- Reviewing existing stock holding and purchasing seasonal stocks to meet channel sales targets, maximising unit throughput efficiencies and minimise seasonal end stock mark-downs.

- Select product purchase mix to achieving sales targets and achieve overall brand collection offering via retail and wholesale channels

- With knowledge of product components, suppliers' local costings and additional inbound costings (freight, duty etc.) negotiate purchase prices in order to achieve desired margins - Identify and regularly review potential suppliers and negotiate commercially viable contracts to achieve target product costing, improve margins and operating cash cycle

- Build and maintain effective working relationships with suppliers and implement standard Company purchase policy.

3. Merchandise and Assortment Planning

- Determine high-level financial goals including pre-season financial plans, in-season projections, open-to-buy management and new store budgets

- Prepare and monitor Concept merchandise MIS analytics based on actual sales, sales forecasts, company order parameters, inventory checks, forth coming events, replenishment needs etc

- Discuss, decide and freeze the concept merchandise strategic plans around the following factors

- Sales, Stock, OTB, Margins, Forward Cover etc

- Subgroup level Sales, Order Quantity, Allocation, Replenishment etc

- Assortment

- Style, Price, Brand, Supplier etc

- Keep abreast of the latest trends in Merchandise Planning and discuss the same with the Category Manager from time to time to assess alignment / realignment of existing processes

4. Inventory Stock Optimization

- Ensure optimum inventory levels are maintained across Concept & Territories keeping in mind store requirements as well as working capital constraints

- Ensure that no instances of stock outs occur on account of any discrepancy on part of merchandise planning

- Ensure excess inventory is not maintained at the warehouses or the stores and there is proper adherence to the concept/territory ageing policy 5. Category Promotions

- Provide inputs on the expected margins, possible price points and other parameters for promotions within the product category

- Analyse the effectiveness of the promotions in achieving the targeted levels of sales and margins

- Analyze the existing stock levels and liaise with the Marketing/VM/Buying team for timely roll out of promotional campaigns to maintain the territory / warehouse inventory holding norms as well to achieve targeted sales 6. In-season Management

- Ensure effective in-season management through regular analysis and action planning across concept and territory based on the performance around the following anchors - Sales vs Stock

- Inflows/OTB

- Stock analysis

-Stock balancing

- Margin analysis

-Communicate and facilitate action to be taken on out-of-line situations with Territory Managers

-Visit territories and stores to be abreast with product performance and trends

7. People Management

- Oversee team deployment and drive motivation levels of the direct reports.

Work Experience: Minimum 10-15 years of experience in the Fashion Retail Industry. An effective communicator and dynamic go-getter with strong leadership, team management, negotiations, coordination and analytical skills management, negotiations, coordination and analytical skills.

Personal traits required:

- Motivated, High-performance orientated with excellent relationship building and influencing skills

- Sound commercial understanding

- Logical / analytical thinking

- Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment

- Ability to handle and deal with international brands with excellent communication skill and presence of mind.

- Ability to visualize and anticipate needs at retail based on shop layout / fixtures and ensure assortments meet all needs.