VP - Head of Category & Digital Merchandising

Industry: E-commerce / D2C / Luxury Retail

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Employment: Permanent, Full-Time

Work Mode: On-site

Experience: 12 - 18 Years

CTC: 70 LPA - 1.50 Cr PA

Vacancy: 1 Position

Department: Category Management / Digital Merchandising

Candidate with Deep understanding of luxury / jewelry / fashion categories (preferred) will be prefered

About the Role:

Angara Ecommerce Pvt Ltd is looking for an experienced VP - Head of Category & Digital Merchandising to lead the end-to-end category strategy and digital merchandising function for its global D2C e-commerce business. The role will drive category growth, P&L performance, assortment strategy, pricing, personalization, digital merchandising, customer experience, and conversion optimization across digital channels.

The ideal candidate will bring strong experience in D2C/e-commerce, category management, digital merchandising, data analytics, personalization, and AI-led commerce, with exposure to global markets. Experience in luxury, jewelry, gemstones, diamonds, or fashion is preferred.

1. Category Strategy & P&L Ownership:

- Own the complete category P&L, including revenue, margins, profitability, and inventory efficiency.

- Develop and execute category growth strategies across global markets.

- Define category objectives, business plans, revenue targets, and growth initiatives.

- Optimize product assortment, pricing, promotions, and inventory mix.

- Identify opportunities to improve category profitability and business performance.

- Monitor category KPIs and provide strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

2. Digital Merchandising & Personalization:

- Lead digital merchandising strategy across website, mobile app, and other D2C channels.

- Develop strategies for AI-driven personalization and dynamic merchandising.

- Improve product discovery, navigation, search, filtering, and recommendation experiences.

- Optimize category pages, product listings, collections, landing pages, and promotional placements.

- Drive improvements in conversion rate, Average Order Value (AOV), engagement, and customer experience.

- Use customer behavior and purchase data to create personalized shopping journeys.

3. D2C Growth & Customer Funnel Optimization:

- Own the category perspective across Acquisition - Discovery - Conversion - Retention.

- Partner with Growth and Marketing teams to align campaigns with category and merchandising strategies.

- Develop merchandising plans for product launches, seasonal campaigns, promotions, and major business events.

- Identify conversion drop-offs and implement initiatives to improve the digital funnel.

- Optimize cart, checkout, and post-purchase experiences to improve customer retention and lifetime value.

4. Product Development & Assortment Strategy:

- Lead product lifecycle management from concept and ideation through launch and optimization.

- Identify consumer trends, market opportunities, and emerging product categories.

- Drive development of new collections, designs, and product innovations.

- Define category mix across gemstones, diamonds, jewelry, and relevant price segments.

- Develop strategies for new product launches and category expansion.

- Identify underperforming products/SKUs and recommend optimization or exit strategies.

- Balance customer demand, profitability, inventory availability, and assortment breadth.

5. Data, Analytics & AI:

- Use business analytics, customer data, and digital insights to drive category decisions.

- Develop data-driven merchandising frameworks using A/B testing, cohort analysis, customer segmentation, demand forecasting, and conversion analytics.

- Partner with Product, Data, and Technology teams to implement AI/ML-based recommendations, personalization, pricing, and demand-planning solutions.

- Establish measurable KPIs and dashboards to track merchandising and category performance.

- Translate customer and business data into actionable growth strategies.

6. Cross-Functional Leadership:

- Work closely with Product, Growth, Marketing, Supply Chain, Design, Technology, Data, and Operations teams.

- Lead and mentor Category Managers, Digital Merchandisers, Analysts, and related teams.

- Build strong collaboration between business and technology functions.

- Present category performance, opportunities, risks, and strategic plans to senior management.

- Drive execution and accountability across multiple teams and business functions.

7. Market & Competitive Intelligence:

- Monitor global jewelry, luxury, fashion, and D2C e-commerce trends.

- Track competitor assortment, pricing, promotions, customer experience, and digital strategies.

- Identify new market opportunities, category white spaces, and emerging customer segments.

- Develop competitive strategies to strengthen the company's position in the global luxury D2C market.

- Use market intelligence to influence assortment, pricing, product, and merchandising decisions.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Management, Marketing, E-commerce, Retail, or a related discipline.

- 12 - 18 years of relevant professional experience in Category Management, Digital Merchandising, E-commerce, D2C, or Luxury Retail.

- Proven experience managing category P&L and business growth.

- Strong understanding of digital commerce and online customer journeys.

- Demonstrated experience in digital merchandising, personalization, product discovery, and recommendation systems.

- Strong exposure to data analytics and technology-driven merchandising.

- Experience with AI/ML, customer data, CDP, analytics, or recommendation platforms is highly desirable.

- Experience managing and developing high-performing teams.

- Strong exposure to global markets and international D2C business models.

Preferred Industry Experience:

- Luxury Retail

- Jewelry

- Diamonds

- Gemstones

- Fashion

- Premium Consumer Brands

- D2C E-commerce

- Online Retail

Key Skills:

- Category Management, Category Strategy, P&L Management, Digital Merchandising, D2C E-commerce, Personalization, Recommendation Engines, Product Discovery, Pricing & Promotions, Assortment Planning.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

The ideal candidate is a strategic business leader with strong commercial and digital expertise who can combine category management with technology, analytics, and customer-centric merchandising. The candidate should be comfortable operating at a senior leadership level while working closely with Product, Technology, Marketing, Growth, Supply Chain, and Design teams. A strong track record of scaling D2C/e-commerce categories, managing P&L, improving conversion and AOV, and building data-driven merchandising capabilities will be highly valued.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

- Category Revenue Growth, Category Gross Margin, P&L Performance, Conversion Rate, Average Order Value (AOV), Customer Engagement, Product Discovery, Inventory Efficiency, SKU Productivity, Customer Retention, Repeat Purchase Rate, Digital Merchandising Performance, New Product Performance.