Head of Partner Brands

We're ASOS, the online retailer for fashion lovers all around the world. We exist to give our customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be, and that goes for our people too. At ASOS, you're free to be your true self without judgement, and channel your creativity into a platform used by millions. We are Disability Confident Committed – let our Talent team know if you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Reporting to the Partner Brands & Marketplace Director, the Head of Category owns a segment of brands within the division and is responsible for managing the buying, merchandising and strategy of this subdivision. They are accountable for successful sales & profit performance with disciplined stock health and interfacing with several cross‑divisional and cross‑functional stakeholders. They are responsible for managing not only the business in this area, but also the relationships with the brand partners and ensuring ASOS has the best‑in‑class curated assortments from the right brands.

Key Accountabilities

• Strategy
  • Responsible for creating and delivering the brand/category strategy aligned to overarching Product & Brand global strategy.
  • Leads direction of product strategy through brand relevancy – distribution, geo, customer segments.
  • Responsible for creating & cascading range architecture framework across initial price, width and depth.
  • Responsible for the financial success and health of the division, trading and managing stock, partner terms, managing OTB and budgets.
  • Optimising data & insights to anticipate future needs of ASOS consumer and identifying future category growth opportunities.
  • Working alongside leaders in the Global team to support global requirements and understand brand/category level global planning, pricing, trading and local brand opportunities.
  • Shaping and driving lean, agile processes and ways of working for departments.
• Product
  • Responsible for leading teams in First to Market product execution across segments, trend, key items, seasonal big deals, brand identity and relevancy.
  • Customer focused; anticipating the needs of the target consumer, using sales data, customer profile analytics and trend information.
  • Keeping brand purpose and Fashion With Integrity at the forefront of decision making whilst commercially balancing profit targets against ethical and sustainable priorities.
  • Alongside Responsible Sourcing, responsible for delivering ethical, efficient & responsive brand strategy.
  • Instil in the departments a strong understanding of global competitors’ product offer, pricing strategy and trading activity leveraging insights to pivot team activity and manage risks.
  • Brand relevancy through distribution and GEO requirements (additional channel of DTC).
• Brand Planning & Trading
  • Responsible for translating top down budgets into category/sub‑category and brand plans.
  • Accountable for brand sales & profit performance.
  • Accountable for delivering on all range KPIs; ASP, Width & Depth and Intake Margin.
  • Responsible for ensuring appropriate stock levels are met, aligned to customer demand, within the parameters set by the business.
  • Maintaining an in‑depth knowledge of brand KPIs throughout the season, continually challenging and redefining to ensure maximum profit.
  • Consistently using data & analytics to trade risks & opportunities and proactively shape the future category strategy.
  • Responsible for reviewing weekly brand sales, stock and intake gap analysis, directing category merchandisers as necessary.
  • Strategically optimising intake margin and profit through identifying efficiencies & cost saving initiatives, including product engineering.
  • Accountable for signing off sales, stock and OTB/intake plans with brand/subcategory teams.
  • Working alongside cross‑functional teams to define sales, stock & intake plans (OTB) for product groups.
  • Improve terms through using all levers available – Buying discount, intake margin, rebates & other commercial opportunities through AMG.
• Managing & Leading
  • Leads the Buying & Merchandising teams in creating the global assortment that meets ASOS’ mission.
  • Leading and building a strong team with a focus on growing future talent.
  • Providing clear direction and development to the team, identifying individual training needs and encouraging collaborative ways of working.
  • Motivating and engaging the team through recognition and regular feedback.
  • Leading and driving business wide initiatives and projects, positively influencing and championing change.
• Cross Functional Working
  • Building and leveraging relationships with a network of appropriate internal and external stakeholders to deliver and evolve strategy.

Qualifications

• A confident, experienced leader in the multi‑brand fashion retail space, who will take ownership of the category and lead the strategy.
• Collaborative, organised, and strategic with your finger on the pulse of fashion – always looking to push the range for our global markets forward.
• Demonstrates the ability to drive the success of multiple departments through strategic, creative and commercial thinking.
• Has expert negotiation and influencing skills.
• Embraces and champions the benefits of change within the wider team.
• Shows a deep understanding of the ASOS customer and customer segmentation and reflects this in decision making.
• Has an effective and inclusive management style, role‑modelling positive behaviours and providing the team with clear direction and development.
• Identifies opportunities or challenges within the assortment and identifies new category opportunities.
• Makes quick and effective trading decisions between buying groups to pursue profitable growth.
• Commercial Acumen to manage OTB and make trade‑offs between sub‑category priorities.
• Creativity to drive category and brand offer and product opportunities based on insight.
• Technical knowledge to oversee, manage and challenge brand and category decisions.
• Expertise to agree the range width and depth.
• Strategic thinking and vision to set the category / product strategy.
• Leadership and ability to challenge & influence other stakeholders to optimise category performance.

Benefits

• Employee discount.
• Employee sample sales.
• 25 days paid annual leave + an extra celebration day for a special moment.
• Private medical care scheme.
• Discretionary bonus scheme.
• Opportunity for personalised learning and in‑the‑moment experiences that enable you to thrive and excel in your role.