Position Overview
The Merchandising Manager will be responsible for driving the regional merchandising and seasonal buying strategy for the brand across Southeast Asia, with Singapore serving as the regional hub.
The role will lead the end-to-end merchandising cycle, from seasonal collection planning, buying and assortment selection through to allocation, replenishment, inventory management and sales performance analysis. Working closely with the regional commercial, retail, marketing and brand teams, the Merchandising Manager will ensure the right product is bought, in the right quantity, for the right market and at the right time.
The ideal candidate combines strong fashion merchandising expertise, commercial acumen, analytical capability and a strong understanding of luxury consumer behaviour across Southeast Asian markets.
Key Responsibilities
1. Seasonal Buying & Collection Planning — Key Focus
- Lead the seasonal buying process for Southeast Asia, covering all key product categories and markets.
- Develop seasonal buying strategies based on sales performance, historical data, market trends, customer insights, store productivity and brand direction.
- Partner closely with HQ / global merchandising teams to understand seasonal collections, product strategies, pricing architecture and launch priorities.
- Review the seasonal collection and determine the optimal assortment for each Southeast Asian market, taking into account local consumer preferences, climate, cultural nuances and market maturity.
- Build and present seasonal buy plans and assortment proposals, including category, product, colour, size and depth recommendations.
- Determine buy quantities and investment levels by market, store and product category.
- Manage the Open-to-Buy (OTB) and ensure seasonal purchasing remains aligned with approved budgets and commercial targets.
- Challenge and optimise the global assortment where required to ensure relevance to the Southeast Asian customer.
- Identify key commercial styles, seasonal must-haves, core products and high-potential newness to drive sales and brand desirability.
- Participate in seasonal collection reviews, buying appointments, showroom presentations and market appointments with regional and global teams.
- Monitor product availability and make informed decisions regarding additional buys, re-orders, cancellations, substitutions and quantity adjustments.
- Ensure buying decisions achieve the appropriate balance between commercial performance, brand positioning, product exclusivity and inventory risk.
2. Regional Assortment & Range Management
- Develop market-specific assortments for Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets.
- Establish appropriate depth and breadth of assortment by store, market and channel.
- Analyse product performance by category, SKU, store and market to identify opportunities and risks.
- Ensure the assortment reflects differences in customer profiles, price sensitivity, climate, shopping behaviour and market potential across Southeast Asia.
- Manage the balance between fashion/newness, carry-over products, core products and commercial volume drivers.
- Review product lifecycle and recommend strategies for slow-moving, ageing or excess inventory.
3. Allocation & Inventory Management
- Develop and oversee initial allocation strategies following seasonal buying.
- Ensure inventory is distributed effectively across stores and markets based on sales potential, store capacity and customer demand.
- Monitor stock levels, sell-through, weeks of supply and inventory turnover.
- Drive replenishment and stock rebalancing across the region where appropriate.
- Identify opportunities for inter-market transfers to optimise inventory productivity.
- Work closely with retail teams to ensure product availability for key launches, campaigns and trading periods.
- Minimise aged and excess inventory while protecting sales opportunities and maintaining appropriate stock depth.
4. Commercial & Sales Performance
- Analyse weekly and monthly sales performance across Southeast Asian markets.
- Monitor key merchandising KPIs including sales, sell-through, stock turn, full-price sell-through, gross margin, markdown, inventory cover and OTB utilisation.
- Provide regular commercial reports and actionable insights to senior management.
- Identify underperforming categories, products and stores and develop corrective action plans.
- Recommend opportunities to maximise sales through replenishment, assortment changes, stock transfers, promotions or markdown strategies.
- Support regional sales forecasting and annual / seasonal business planning.
5. Market & Consumer Intelligence
- Maintain a strong understanding of luxury fashion trends and consumer behaviour across Southeast Asia.
- Monitor competitor activity, new store openings, product trends, pricing and assortment strategies.
- Gather market feedback from retail teams and translate customer insights into future buying decisions.
- Identify emerging opportunities and changing customer preferences within individual Southeast Asian markets.
- Use market intelligence to influence seasonal assortment and buying decisions.
6. Cross-Functional & Regional Collaboration
- Work closely with Regional Retail, Sales, Marketing, E-Commerce, Finance, Operations and Visual Merchandising teams.
- Partner with global / regional merchandising teams to align local market needs with the brand's global product strategy.
- Collaborate with Finance to ensure buying commitments remain within approved budgets and OTB parameters.
- Work with Retail teams to gather market feedback and identify product opportunities.
- Support marketing and VM teams with product priorities for seasonal campaigns, launches and key commercial moments.
- Act as the key merchandising point of contact between the Singapore regional office and global headquarters.
Key Requirements
- Degree or diploma in Fashion Merchandising, Business, Retail Management, Fashion Management or a related discipline.
- Typically 7–10+ years of relevant merchandising / buying experience, preferably within luxury or premium fashion.
- Strong hands-on experience in seasonal buying and assortment planning is essential.
- Proven experience managing regional or multi-market merchandising, ideally across Southeast Asia.
- Strong understanding of Open-to-Buy, inventory management, forecasting, allocation and replenishment.
- Strong commercial and analytical skills, with the ability to translate data into clear buying decisions.
- Strong knowledge of luxury fashion products, customer behaviour and market dynamics.
- Experience working with international / global headquarters and regional stakeholders.
- Excellent negotiation, presentation and communication skills.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel and merchandising / ERP systems.
- Ability to manage multiple seasonal calendars, markets and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
- Willingness to travel within Southeast Asia and internationally when required for seasonal buying appointments and collection reviews.
Interested applicants please apply to this advertisement. It would be beneficial to highlight the countries / categories previously managed.
