Rachel Gilbert is a premium fashion brand specialising in modern women'sevening wear. Known for elegant design, quality craftsmanship, and a refined aesthetic, we operate across our own retail boutiques, a growing eCommerce platform, and an international wholesalebusiness. As we continue to scale, we are seeking a dynamic and commercially driven SeniorMerchandising Manager to lead and shape our end-to-end merchandise strategy, driving performance, profitability, and operational excellence across all channels.
Role Overview
As Senior Merchandising Manager, you will lead the strategic vision, planning, and execution of our global merchandise assortment. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for commercial strategy across product planning, buying, pricing, and inventory management. You will lead a team and collaborate cross-functionally to align product and financial strategies with brand objectives and market demands.
This role carries enhanced accountability for stock integrity, inventory visibility, price architecture, and commercial planning across our direct-to-consumer and wholesale businesses. You will shape pricing frameworks, seasonal markdown strategies, and long-term inventory optimisation — ensuring sustainable growth and profitability.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
• Set and manage the global merchandising strategy, aligning seasonal plans with business goals and growth targets.
• Form part of the leadership team, lead merchandise planning and buying functions across retail, eCommerce, and wholesale channels.
• Partner with Product, Design, and Finance to build a cohesive strategy that balances brand integrity with commercial success.
• Present strategic frameworks, seasonal insights, and commercial recommendations to the Executive Team.
Merchandise Planning & Buying
• Oversee all seasonal and long-range merchandise plans, ensuring strong alignment with margin, turn, and sell-through goals.
• Own the OTB process, guiding execution from planning through in-season management.
• Supervise buying decisions across all product categories, ensuring data-backed choices informed by customer insights and sales performance.
• Collaborate with Design and Product Development to influence future collections based on trend analysis and trade feedback.
Price Architecture & Competitive Strategy
• Develop and own a global price architecture strategy, ensuring consistency across markets while responding to local dynamics and channel-specific goals.
• Lead market and competitive analysis to inform pricing, positioning, and promotional strategies. • Define markdown pricing frameworks and calendarized strategies, maximising margin recovery and brand equity protection.
• Oversee price testing, elasticity studies, and promotional mechanics across eCommerce and retail.
Inventory Ownership & Stock Integrity
• Drive stock integrity initiatives, ensuring inventory accuracy, visibility, and reconciliation across all physical and digital channels.
• Implement robust processes and systems to monitor inventory flow, reduce discrepancies, and ensure seamless reporting.
• Partner with Operations and Tech teams to improve systems, reporting tools, and cross functional alignment around inventory health.
• Establish KPIs and dashboards to monitor inventory aging, terminal stock, and availability.
Exit & Markdown Strategy
• Own and execute a global exit strategy for seasonal and aged stock, partnering with digital, and wholesale channels to optimise clearance while maintaining brand value.
• Manage off-price and outlet opportunities, ensuring alignment with margin targets and brand positioning.
Team & Cross-Functional Leadership
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing team.
• Champion collaboration between Merchandising, Design, Finance, Marketing, and Operations. • Promote a culture of data-driven decision making, accountability, and innovation. • Guide systems improvement and process development to scale with the business.
Qualifications
• 8–10+ years of experience in merchandising, planning, or buying, with at least 3 years in a senior leadership capacity.
• Experience within premium/luxury fashion, with proven success managing multichannel merchandising strategies.
• Strong analytical acumen and proficiency with planning tools and systems.
• Demonstrated success in driving pricing strategies, inventory efficiency, and stock accuracy. • Strategic thinker with an ability to lead through change and scale processes in a growing organisation.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
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