Sr. Director - Merchandise Planning and Allocation

Diesel has long been a leading pioneer in denim and casual fashion, known for moving outside and ahead of trends in its industry. While retaining always its DNA, in recent years Diesel has evolved into the world of premium casual wear, becoming a true alternative to the established luxury market. Diesel is a truly worldwide organization. It is present in more than 80 countries with 5,000 points of sale, including more than 400 company owned stores.

Job Purpose

Lead the US Merchandising department supporting areas of the Global Brand Management team and Diesel USA senior management team, to provide strategic input to HQ on US market product and consumer trends, sales, price positioning and competitors to help maximize sales and profitability in line with Global Brand strategy for Diesel  full price product lines. Influence product development before, during, and post-season to ensure US offering is appropriately tailored for local needs while maintaining brand integrity and direction.

Advise on the US full price distribution strategy across retail to ensure local strategy supports global brand direction and that a cohesion in product offer is provided to the end consumer across both distribution channels. Identify potential areas of risk and growth in US by product category and/or distribution in line with Diesel’s global objectives.

Job Responsibilities

• Ensure global brand strategy is effectively translated across local product assortments
• Influence the product development process, for local market/product needs with Brand Management in HQ to ensure product designs takes into proper consideration US commercial needs (ie US-specific product issues including sizing requirements and geographically tailored tastes, specific market product trends)  
• Proactively solicit product & brand updates from HQ to ensure US is appropriately representing brand strategy and product “story”
• Ensure global product initiatives are clearly communicated and translated to US subsidiary
• Collaborate and build strong cross functional relationships with key business partners both in Italian Headquarters and locally
• Act as key business partner to CEO, VP Sales, & VP Retail to identify risks and opportunities for US subsidiary
• Advise CEO on alignment with business strategy and global brand direction
• Provide cross-channel competitive research and analysis to identify key trends, inform business strategies, understand shifts in market direction, & leverage commercial opportunities for the Brand
• Establish, communicate, and drive merchandise performance measurement standards
• Advise on retail assortments across all product categories and support local pricing process ensuring local pricing structure is inline with HQ
• Key executive leader working in partnership with CEO and Brand leads to align on strategic business initiatives
• Manage and develop Merchandising team (director, associate, buyer)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 10+ years’ experience of full lifecycle merchandising and buying
• Ability to lead and develop a team, make organizational recommendations, build skills and competencies  
• Experience working across multiple product categories, with significant experience in Men’s, Women’s & denim; Non-core product experience desirable
• Solid understanding of US retail markets, including market dynamics & drivers, key clients and competitors, product trends, tastemakers, and influencers
• Has held a buying role in Department Store across multiple product categories at some stage of career

• Good understanding of key retail math concepts related to pricing, margins, and profitability
• Has held a role in a complex or matrix organization

• Has influenced Design and product Development to maximize sales; Has developed and improved Product Merchandising processes
• Some sales or sales planning experience preferred
• Strong communication, persuasion, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence, forge credible relationships, and create change
• Strong understanding of advertising, sales, public relations, and product marketing
• Experience partnering with and influencing European HQ preferred
• Strong computer skills in Excel (macros, v-lookups, pivot tables, complex formulas, etc.)
• Analytic Skills:  Ability to think objectively and interpret meaningful themes from quantitative and qualitative data
• Financial and Business Acumen:  Ability to evaluate and speak to financial and business indicators, and translate data into actionable information to drive results; Expert in retail math and financial measurement concepts, and how to influence them

Salary range: $175k-190k

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