Head - Merchandising - Fashion

Role: Head of Merchandising

Location: Gurgaon

Working Mode: WFO, (5.5 Days with Alternate Saturdays Off)

Job Overview:

Build and institutionalise our merchandising rulebook - covering product architecture, channel-wise assortment strategy, pricing & discount guardrails, OTB planning, inventory discipline, and sales-led decision systems - to enable profitable scale across D2C, marketplaces, and retail. This role owns the commercial engine of the brand.

Core Responsibilities:

1. Merchandising Rulebook & Product Architecture:

Define and implement clear SKU classification:

- Core / Volume / Newness / Fashion / Experimental

- Build price ladders by category, silhouette, and channel

- Define depth vs width logic by line and channel

Create rules for:

- When a SKU becomes "core"

- When a SKU is scaled, replenished, discounted, or exited

- Eliminate emotional decision-making through systems

2. Channel-wise Assortment Strategy (D2C / Marketplaces / Retail):

- Decide which products go where and why

Build hard rules for:

- Marketplace accelerators vs brand builders

- D2C and retail exclusives

- Discount ceilings by channel and SKU type

- Protect brand while maintaining marketplace rank and volume

- Ensure channel conflict is controlled, not accidental

3. Sales, Margin & Inventory Ownership:

- Own key commercial metrics:

- Sell-through %

- Weeks of cover

- GMROI

- Markdown efficiency

- CM2 contribution

- Balance growth vs profitability with discipline

- Drive inventory health and prevent cash lock-ins

- Decide markdowns proactively, not reactively

4. OTB Planning & Replenishment Systems

- Build and run channel-wise OTB plans

Decide:

- Initial buy depth

- Replenishment triggers

- Seasonal vs evergreen buys

- Align buying decisions with supply lead times

- Work closely with supply chain to ensure availability without overbuying

5. Operating Cadence, SOPs & Systems

- Establish weekly and monthly review cadences, including:

- Weekly Business Review (WBR)

- Trade & Sell-through Review

- Monthly Range & OTB Review

- S&OP alignment with supply chain

- Build SOPs and working tools (not decks):

- Product master & SKU tagging

- Channel tagging & discount guardrails

- Replenishment & exit logic

- Ensure systems survive beyond individuals

6. Team Enablement & Decision Frameworks

- Train and upskill merchandising and planning teams

- Define decision rights and approval thresholds

- Act as a commercial thought partner to the founder

- Build a culture of data-backed merchandising discipline