Director - Merchandise Planning & Commercial Inventory Strategy

International Permanent £15,067 - £17,220 per month (£180,815 - £206,646 per year) View Job Description
Lead enterprise wide merchandise planning across a complex omni channel multi-brand retail portfolio, driving OTB, forecasting, inventory and margin performance across stores and digital channels. Partner with Buying, Commercial and Digital leadership to shape commercial strategy and influence high-impact trading decisions at regional scale.
  • Leading multi brand retail & distribution platform with complex omni channel ops
  • Leadership scope with enterprise scale planning transformation exposure

About Our Client

A market leading multi-brand retail and distribution platform operating at regional scale, managing a diverse portfolio across fashion, lifestyle and beauty categories. The organisation is known for its strong brand partnerships, omni-channel growth and continued investment in systems, people and commercial capability.

Job Description

  • Lead and drive the end to end merchandise planning strategy across multiple brands, categories and channels including stores and digital
  • Deliver annual and seasonal merchandise financial plans, budgets, forecasts and OTB frameworks aligned to revenue and margin targets
  • Drive in-season trading performance through active monitoring of sales, sell-through, stock cover and margin, adjusting plans and intake as needed
  • Operate and optimise OTB controls to manage spend, reduce risk and protect profitability across business units
  • Run inventory and intake planning processes including purchase order flow, stock phasing and replenishment frameworks
  • Create and implement planning policies, processes and governance to improve accuracy, speed and cross-functional alignment
  • Lead planning system and data improvement initiatives including SAP and related planning tools
  • Influence senior stakeholders across Buying, Finance, Commercial and Digital functions to support fact-based decision making



The Successful Applicant

  • Extensive experience in merchandising leadership ideally within a complex department store or multi-brand retail environment; track record in luxury retail planning environment is a must, with fast fashion considered as secondary
  • Mandatory background in fashion retail planning, with additional beauty category exposure viewed as a strong advantage. Clear planning and merchandising career path - not a buying profile with limited exposure to planning functions
  • Demonstrated ownership of OTB, forecasting, budgeting and in-season inventory management across multiple categories and channels
  • Hands-on experience with SAP planning systems is highly preferred
  • Comfortable working in evolving and partially manual planning environments and leading process and system transformation
  • Highly commercial and trend-aware, able to engage credibly with Buying leadership on fashion performance and category direction
  • People-centric leadership style with experience building and developing high-performing planning teams

What's on Offer

Competitive package and benefits.

Contact
Ali Nomani
Quote job ref
JN-022026-6942527
Phone number
+971 4 709 0307

Job summary

Job function
Retail
Subsector
Merchandise & Supply Chain
Sector
Retail
Location
International
Contract type
Permanent
Consultant name
Ali Nomani
Consultant phone
+971 4 709 0307
Job reference
JN-022026-6942527