The Merchandising team at River Island play a key role in realising the commercial opportunities created by our unique product across all our channels. The Merchandising Manager is responsible for supporting the Head of Merchandising in forming and delivering the Planning and Trading strategy. They will help shape the financial, promotional/markdown, margin and stocking plans and are accountable for guiding the merchandising teams in delivering.
They will build strong cross divisional working relationships and undertake company projects to support new initiatives. The Merchandising Manager is responsible for ensuring that commercial, and profitable product ranges are bought which maximise sales across all channels and are in line with our customer needs and stock/markdown targets. A River Island Merchandising Manager must successfully lead, train and develop the merchandising team.
Key Accountabilities: Supports in forming and delivering the planning and trading strategy, inclusive of category specific strategies. Builds strong cross divisional working relationships and undertakes company projects to support new initiatives Proposes adjustments to immediate and longer-term financial, promotional/markdown and stocking plans to optimise margin and sales, driving the trading performance by channel Supports in delivering a highly commercial and well-balanced range for all channels through working closely with Design and Buying, that supports delivery of the department strategy and ultimately the financial delivery of the Buying plan and Margin Target for the category Trades effectively, always looking at risk and ways to maximise commercial opportunities.
Responsible for delivering the stocking strategy, managing stocks within planned levels and agreed markdown targets, challenging when needed. Plans sourcing strategies that reduce costs and grows margin with consideration of all external factors, incorporating an understanding of sustainable practices in sourcing and production ensuring the buying team are supported in this to deliver on our sustainability commitments Ensures management of the department critical path for timely delivery of product Consults on the distribution strategy of stock to all channels Utilises all available resources to positively impact product performance.
Sourcing opportunities to create new or improve existing material, identifying systematic opportunities where possible Grows talent within the Merchandising team Manages a team effectively, setting the direction and objectives to be achieved for your department, ensuring the team is aligned and working towards those objectives, and providing timely feedback and support to enable each person to work to the best of their abilities Leads succession plans to identify and nurture talent.
Provides learning and development opportunities, coaching and mentoring Challenges all company working practices where appropriate to improve ways of working Foster and enable a culture of wellbeing and inclusion through openness, two way listening and owning actions needed to create a great workplace for our Islanders Key experience required: Previous experience as a Merchandising Merchandiser, or established Senior Merchandiser Experience in an omni-channel business is highly desirable Proven results in potentializing both speed to market and long-lead margin-rich routes to deliver upsides to the forecast Track record of delivering and exceeding sales and margin targets is essential Track record of identifying and delivering on new product opportunities Track record of driving strong team and individual performance and engagement Job role competencies: Excellent verbal and numerical reasoning skills Excellent commercial awareness skills Advanced analytical skills Excellent attention to detail and accuracy Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills, emotional intelligence and self-management Skilled at presenting new ideas, flexing style and approach to gain buy-in Excellent people management and coaching, mentoring and development skills Highly organised, good prioritisation skills Ability to communicate and align teams to strategy and vision Disciplined and conscientious, results oriented Tenacious, resilient and adaptable to change Change advocate with a curious, continuous learning mindset Forward-thinking, innovative Passion for the RI brand and customer
Job description provided by River Island.
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