Merchandiser Leader Candidate

A merchandiser (MD) role at GU, with a path to leadership. In GU's product division, MD, R&D, production, product planning, marketing, the Customer Center and stores work as one unit, and the MD acts as the business command centre, deciding product lineups, pricing and sales strategy for a category such as women's, men's, kids or underwear, with global product strategy covering Japan, Greater China and the US.

The work runs from market and customer analysis with sales and the Customer Center; through seasonal product strategies and business plans built on sales, gross profit and inventory figures; to product and material development with R&D designers, patternmakers and production; and decisions on launches, reorders and sales initiatives with marketing, planning, sales and e-commerce. Onboarding may include about six months of in-store training and about a year in product planning.

Required: experience in corporate planning, business strategy, sales or product planning, marketing or merchandising, independently finding and solving sales or performance problems from a customer-centric view; the ability to engage executives and departments; leadership; fast decisions from quantitative and qualitative information; and a strong interest in fashion and product planning.