Head of Merchandising, Seao

**Being part of LOEWE **gives you the opportunity of learning new things every day and working with people passionate about what they do, in a fast moving and ambitious company.

Reporting directly to General Manager SEAO, the **SEAO Head of Merchandising **will be responsible to oversee all the Retail Merchandising activities, including buying, merchandise planning, product training, market research & competitor analysis. In line with the positioning of the brand and the specific target audience in the region, the Head of Merchandising will drive the 360 Retail merchandising strategies across all products categories for LOEWE in SEAO, aiming to ensure the balance between fully representing the brand and maximizing commercial opportunities, contribute to the brand development and sales growth in the market by planning and implementing strategic brand merchandising actions at regional level.

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**
- Responsible for seasonal buys, merchandise mix and assortment planning in accordance with respective merchandising strategies for retail stores.
- Develop and implement merchandising strategies to drive store sales and deliver commercial results.
- Define strategies by category / product priorities for each market and share the vision to ensure alignment across all departments.
- Define and monitor product launch plan and lead coordination between Retail (incl. retail training), Marketing & Communication, VM, CRM and supply chain teams clarifying priorities and business expectations to maximize the sales.
- Work closely with Visual Merchandising Team on store segmentation, product launch and Visual display strategies.
- Conduct market research and store visits to stay abreast of trends, customer behavior (incl. qualitative feedback on collections), competitor study.
- Partner with Retail Training to develop qualitative, creative and inspiring seasonal product training knowledge for stores.
- Ensure strong partnership with Supply Chain team
- to ensure best estimates and sales forecasts are following / supporting the merchandising strategy.
- Contribute to ensuring effective level of stock, manage the merchandise flow defined by local needs and product launches.
- Coordinate and define the initial allocations to stores across all categories.
- Give inputs for OTB & Sales forecasts, pricing and competitors / market analysis
- Responsible for informing management and HQ concerned teams on the business trend and propose action plans to maximize the sales as well as ST to ensure stock efficiency.
- Weekly / quarterly reports, highlighting the risks and opportunities
- Competition and market monitoring and reporting Highlight need gaps and priorities to develop the business for each category in each country

**REQUIREMENTS**:

- Over 15 years previous experience in Retail Merchandising in leading Luxury brands, in which at least 5 years in a senior position leading a sizable Merchandising team.
- Strategic retail merchandising expertise with both strong fashion sense combined with commercial sense, excellent product sensibility across all categories, especially in Women’s Universe, Leather Goods and RTWs.
- Strong analytical and communication skills, deep understanding of retail market & commercial dynamics in SEAO market.
- Fluent in English both written and oral.
- Team player and good leader, ability to multi-task and work under pressure
- Ability to take initiative, ownership and accountability for business Pro-active and think out of the box

**About us**:
Created in Spain in 1846, LOEWE approaches 175 years as one of the world’s major luxury houses. Since 2013, under LOEWE’s creative director, Jonathan Anderson, the brand has started a new chapter, presenting itself to the world as a house focused on craft and culture; evidenced through an intellectual yet playful approach to fashion, bold and vibrant Spanish lifestyle, and unmatched expertise with leather.

LOEWE has a rich legacy of craftsmanship dating back to its beginnings as a collective workshop and has long valued artisanal techniques in its approach to design and manufacture. These core values are reflected in the brand’s belief in the importance of craft in today’s culture, its modern interpretations of historical artistic achievements and its commitment to supporting contemporary art, craft and culture around the world.