Merchandise Director

Here at Bonmarche we have a fantastic opportunity for a Merchandising Director to join our Senior Management Team, based at our Head Office near Wakefield. This role has the opportunity to make a real difference on a day to day basis as well as supporting the development and implementation of the business strategy to secure the future success of the company.

Relocation assistance available

Bonmarche was established in 1982 and following a successful turnaround of business strategy our Yorkshire based fashion house is going from strength to strength and continually opening new stores and outlets across the UK.

We are the UK’s largest womenswear value retailer with the ambition of being the most preferred and recommended multi – channel retailer for women over 50. We pride ourselves on offering quality clothing with appropriate styling, great value and in a wide range of sizes, along with outstanding customer service. We are driven by the knowledge, and extremely proud, that our range of clothing makes women feel comfortable, fashionable and fabulous, all at an affordable price.

At Bonmarche we know that great people make great companies and our values, Integrity, Respect, Friendly Service and Professionalism are at the heart of everything we do. In line with our values we will ensure you have every opportunity to showcase your talents, and support you in developing your talents further as we grow and develop as a business.

If you are passionate about the brand and looking for a new challenge then Bonmarche is the place for you!

The role

You will drive the business product strategy and help us achieve our financial goals and future growth. You must be hands-on in style and ready to pull your sleeves up, whilst being capable of providing strong results.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define the overall ranging strategy, ensuring that through effective range control process and price architecture, the ranges are in line with customer demand and designed to meet sales, margin and stock targets.

• Ensure margin mechanics operate such that range and pricing architectures deliver the desired cash and percentage margins.

• Ensure that new season and phase launches, clearance activity and other promotions are executed with careful planning, using effective and timely communication with Buying, Retail, Marketing & Distribution.

• Manage ‘full life’ of product including mark down and exit plans.

• Manage inbound stock to requirements of range plan and resolve supply chain issues.

• Manage outbound stock flow to maximise sell-through but also taking into account the operational environment of the wider business.

• To manage the supply base and ensure effective distribution of stock to maximise product performance across all channels

Leadership

• Together with the Directors, define and communicate a clear vision of the future, translating this into understandable goals and targets.

• Build strong teams with a focus on succession planning.

• Develop, coach and support the growth of the team, to deliver their agreed targets and ensuring the teams are aware of the bigger picture.

• Will be very people focused, with the ability to build relationships quickly to gain support and drive and facilitate cross-functional teams.

Key Skills

• A background in a fast paced trading organisation, i.e. high street / value retailer

• Strong experience of the UK fashion market and understand our target customers shopping behaviours.

• A proven track record as an effective leader at a senior level, highly people focused and committed to developing teams

• Strong commercial acumen with experience of supporting excellent operational & trading performance

• Ability to operate in a dynamic, constantly evolving environment within varying seasonal demands

• Commerciality - skilled at finding opportunities to achieve profit in any situation, trading mentality to support and develop product areas

• Capacity for pushing through change and achieving the desired results.

• Strong leadership, relationship building & people management skills.

• Excellent business and analytical skills with a high degree of intelligence and creativity

• Excellent communication skills with all levels of stakeholders both internally and externally

• Possess an open and proactive style of communication and be approachable

• A style that is hands-on, adaptable, resilient & determined