Fashion Designer and Merchandiser

Role Summary

The Head of Merchandising and Product Development owns the product lifecycle from initial concept through to market launch, costing strategy, and post-launch sales analysis. Acting as the bridge between creative vision, supply chain reality, and commercial sales, this leader conceptualizes highly desirable products and sets strict margin targets. They partner with Procurement for sourcing and manufacturing, hold the ultimate authority on cost-vs-quality trade-offs, and strategically allocate inventory across all sales channels (Offline, Resellers, Website, Shopee, and WhatsApp) to maximize profitability.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Development & Design (Concept to Launch)

Lead the end-to-end product development process, including market research, trend forecasting, conceptualization, and technical design.

Manage the product launch calendar, ensuring prototyping, sampling, and mass production timelines align exactly with the marketing go-to-market schedule.

Oversee quality assurance during the prototyping phase to ensure the final product meets brand standards and customer expectations.

2. Costing, Margin & Procurement Collaboration

Margin Ownership: Establish the Retail Price and determine the maximum Target Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for all new products to ensure strict Gross Margin and Initial Mark-Up (IMU) goals are met.

Procurement Briefing: Provide clear product specifications, quality standards, and Target COGS to the Procurement team, who will execute the factory sourcing and price negotiations.

Trade-off Management: Act as the final decision-maker on cost versus quality. Review sourcing options presented by Procurement and approve final production costs.

Value Engineering: Work closely with Procurement to re-engineer existing products (e.g., tweaking designs or consolidating materials) to lower costs and improve margins over time.

3. Merchandising & Sales Monitoring

Continuously monitor product performance, specifically focusing on the Sell-Through Rate (STR) for all new launches and core items.

Identify bestsellers quickly to trigger production reorders, and identify slow movers to develop markdown strategies, bundling, or promotions in collaboration with the Sales heads.

Analyze product lifecycle metrics to advise the executive team on when to discontinue items or introduce new variations/colors.

4. Channel Allocation & Inventory Strategy

Strategically allocate product inventory across all sales channels (Offline Events, Reseller Network, Direct Website, Shopee/Marketplaces, and WhatsApp) based on historical data and channel demand.

Ensure high-performing channels have sufficient stock to meet targets while avoiding over-allocation to slower-moving channels.

Balance inventory needs for mega-campaigns (e.g., 11.11, major exhibitions) across online and offline channels.

Requirements & Qualifications

Experience: 5+ years of experience in product development, merchandising, or buying within an omnichannel retail environment.

Commercial Acumen: Deep understanding of retail math, including Gross Margin, IMU, Target COGS, Sell-Through Rate (STR), and inventory turnover.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Proven experience working directly with procurement and supply chain teams, understanding the difference between strategic costing (Merchandising) and execution/negotiation (Procurement).

Analytical Skills: Strong ability to analyze multi-channel sales data to make split-second decisions on inventory movement and product lifecycles.