Head of Merchandising in Carlisle

Here at The Edinburgh Woollen Mill we have a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Merchandising, based at our Head Office in Carlisle. Relocation assistance available.

We are looking for an experienced Head of Merchandising or a Senior Merchandising leader ready to step up into a Head of function role. This is an opportunity for a dynamic, commercially driven leader to take ownership of the Merchandising strategy and deliver exceptional trading performance across all channels.

The Edinburgh Woollen Mill is a retail business comprising over 200 units, including High Street, Tourist & Destination sites, predominantly Fashion and Home.

Our Head Office is located in Carlisle, Cumbria. Carlisle has a principal station on the West Coast main line from London Euston and sits on the M6 motorway. This location provides ready access to the major facilities expected of a city, combined with the possibility of living in one of the finest countryside areas in the UK. Almost every conceivable type of outdoors and countryside activity is at hand. There are fishing rivers, hill walking areas and golf courses nearby and the Lake District is a short drive away.

High Street stores sell ladies and menswear for the 45 plus customer. Outlets are located in a wide variety of market and provincial towns across the UK and Ireland.

We have specialty tourist stores, where gift items and other products reflect the store's location. The outlets, which trade under an individual, often local, fascia, are in key tourist locations throughout the UK. Many stores are on busy tourist routes and benefit from coach visits where food service and exhibitions are all part of the attraction.

There are Destination Sites which contain all of the Company's concepts and other brands to increase their attractiveness as a retail destination. The sites trade under local, individual fascias such as Antartex Village, and Kernow Mill, Mackinnon Mills.

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

The role involves leading the planning, management and optimisation of Sales, Stock, Markdown and Profit. You’ll play a pivotal role in setting and driving the strategic merchandise direction, with full accountability for cost and revenue. From planning and forecasting to budgeting and product mix across the full EWM range, you will ensure our merchandising function delivers sustainable growth, strong margins and a market-leading customer offer.

Responsibilities/ Objectives:

• To implement in full the trading area business plan as dictated by the company strategy.
• Develop and drive the brand and merchandising strategy across all channels.
• To lead and inspire high performance within the teams to drive trading and strengthen the EWM brand position in the market.
• Work in collaboration with Buying to ensure we have an agile and flexible supplier base that can deliver the company KPI’s highlighting any risk to sales or profit and escalate as appropriate.
• To manage the supply base and ensure effective distribution of stock to maximise product performance across all channels.
• Develop strategic range planning solutions alongside the Buying to create opportunities for cohesive co-ordinated ranges for sales growth.
• Plan correct levels of margin enhanced promotional product to minimise risk and reduce mark-down percentage.
• Ensures effective distribution of stock to maximise product performance.
• Accountable for stock inventory, ensuring stock inventory is managed in line with current business performance.
• Operates an effective/timely product sign off process, appropriate for product lead-time.
• To develop and maintain strong supplier relationships and to set and maintain a supplier evaluation process, establishing alternative suppliers to alleviate reliability on any one source.
• In-depth customer-focused knowledge of market trends and channel performance, research and implement best practice for planning, analysis and inventory.
• Strategic Awareness & Thinking - Ability to initiate new strategic direction for business and realise the objectives. Develop new ideas, consider potential outcomes and develop action plan.
• Develop clear accountabilities for planning and forecasting with key stakeholders to drive effectiveness and efficiency including price negotiations and to make recommendations for maximising efficiency and maximisation of the margin.
• Resilient with the confidence to present at Board level through to one-to-one team coaching.
• To provide clear and motivational leadership to the merchandising team.
• Manage the performance and development of the team to maximise performance across the merchandising team.