PURPOSE & OVERALL RELEVANCE FOR THE ORGANIZATION:

This role is responsible for maximizing the profitability of Own Retail business by overseeing that the sales planning, buying, day-to-day trading activities, sales reviews and inventory management are carried out effectively and efficiently. A secondary responsibility of managing the buy for key Franchise partners/doors may be added in the future.
This includes:
•    Planning and setting the right merchandising strategy for Own Retail in the country
•    Implementing Merchandising End-to-End (E2E) process
•    Putting in the right strategies to derive the right Buy for Own Retail in the country
•    Monitoring all in-season activities and acting accordingly for Own Retail
•    Providing feedback and work collaboratively with SEA Own Retail Buying/Merchandising Department

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

•    Lead and coach country Buying team members on all Buying functions with the objective of providing career progression.

 

a. Pre-season
•    Support the implementation of key strategic priorities in the country for Own Retail within the SEA Own Retail Buying Department framework. 
•    Responsible for the Business Units’ Sales Planning, Buy, cost and margins in the country.
•    Work with the SEA Own Retail Buying Department to derive Open-To-Buy (OTB) budget for Own Retail – Concept Stores (New seasons) and Factory Outlet (GFO).
•    Build the right product mix based on the share of business of store formats, product categories, store types, age and gender mix for Own Retail.
•    Review and implement the right buying analysis by categories for Own Retail.
•    Review and define product options and space management in the country for Own Retail.
•    Ensure correct size ratios are used for order placement for Own Retail

 

b. In addition to the above (when secondary responsibility becomes effective):

•    Work with Head of the Franchise Channel/Key Account Manager to receive Open-To-Buy (OTB) budget for Key Franchise Partners/Doors.
•    Support Key Franchise Doors to ensure their sell-in buy is appropriate by giving them the right range recommendation per store based on SEA Own Retail Buying seasonal strategies.
•    Provide guidance to Key Stakeholders i.e. Buyers of Franchise partners to ensure that all merchandising strategies and principles are executed timely and correctly.
•    Ensure correct size ratios are used for order placement for Key Franchise doors.

 

c. In-season
•    Drive and achieve Benchmarks and KPIs on productivity and sell-through which are aligned with SEA Own Retail Buying Department for Own Retail.
•    Support improvements in Allocation and Replenishment (A&R) techniques with SEA Direct to Consumer (DTC) Own Retail Buying Department for Own Retail.
•    Ensure products are launched on time with adequate stock for Own Retail.
•    Work closely with Store Operations to ensure product grading and product option plan are in line with space management guideline for Own Retail (pre-season).
•    Establish and analyze Own Retail’s key Buy, Sales and Inventory reports and take necessary actions to ensure business strategies are well-executed and business goals are achieved (pre-, in- and post-season).
•    To validate and identify Month on hand (MoH) inventory planning file based on the month cover of Concept Stores and Factory Outlets
•    Ensure end-of-season stock is managed accordingly to the Product-Life-Cycle (PLC) policy for Own Retail.
•    Ensure all Store Openings/Closings/Remodels are well coordinated by tasking the Buying department to act as the single point-of-contact for Own Retail.
•    Provide guidance to Key Franchise Partners on sales report generation and analysis (pre-, in- and post-season).
•    Ensure in-season chase models (Evergreen, In-Season-Creation and Planned-Responsiveness) are well managed to make sure inventory is optimal for Own Retail.
•    Establish Own Retail store-visit schedule to achieve an expected amount of time spent in the stores.  Ratio of time to be spent in office versus stores is recommended as 60%/40% respectively.  
•    Analyze Own Retail Store Visits Pack (SVP) prior to store visits.

 

KEY RELATIONSHIP:

•    Internal: Own Retail Stores, Country Retail Operation Team, Country Category Marketing, Country Finance, SEA Own Retail Buying team, Country Franchise team, Country Warehouse Operations team
•    External: Franchise Partners, Other third-party service providers

 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 

•    Datamining & Presentation skills
•    Strong analytical mind set - detail and numbers oriented
•    Excel/computer skills
•    Business Acumen & problem solving skills
•    Category know how - products, ranges, market trends
•    Big picture thinking
•    Process and system understanding
•    Collaboration & Influencing skills
•    Ability to multitask

 

REQUISITE EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE/MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: 

a. Educational:
•    University degree in business, ideally with marketing and sales focus or equivalent professional experience 
•    Merchandising/Retail Finance/ Business Analytics Experience: 5-6 years 
•    Management Experience:2-4 years

 

b. Functional: 
•    Merchandising skills with a minimum 6-7 years’ experience in retail planning and operations
•    Fluency in English
•    Exposure in managing multiple markets will be a plus
•    Industry: Preferably in apparel/ fashion/ Footwear 
•    Exposure: Sports, Fashion