Trading & Commercial Performance

• Take ownership of merchandising performance across the business.
• Analyse weekly and monthly trading performance, identifying opportunities and risks.
• Drive sales, margin, sell-through, and stock performance.
• Make informed decisions around intake, replenishment, markdowns, and stock management.
• Identify underperforming categories, products, and opportunities for growth.
• Develop clear commercial reporting and KPIs for the merchandising function.
• Turn data and analysis into clear recommendations and actions.

Range Planning

• Lead the end-to-end range planning process.
• Establish appropriate option counts, depth, and size curves by category and market.
• Ensure the range reflects customer demand, commercial opportunities, and the overall brand strategy.
• Partner with Product, Design, and Buying to ensure ranges are commercially viable.
• Support new product development through commercial insight and performance analysis.
• Help establish a scalable product and category architecture as the business grows.

Stock & Inventory

• Own the stock strategy and ensure inventory is aligned to sales expectations.
• Improve forecasting and demand planning processes.
• Balance availability against stock exposure and working capital.
• Monitor weeks of cover, sell-through, intake, and stock turn.
• Establish appropriate replenishment strategies for core and seasonal products.
• Work with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure stock availability supports trading objectives.

International Expansion

• Support the merchandising strategy for European and US growth.
• Develop market-specific range and inventory strategies where appropriate.
• Use trading data and customer insight to understand differences between markets.
• Help establish the merchandising processes required to scale internationally.
• Play a key role in building the commercial infrastructure for the US launch and future expansion.

Leadership

• Lead and develop the existing merchandising team.
• Provide clear direction, priorities, and commercial objectives.
• Build a high-performance merchandising culture based around accountability and decision-making.
• Develop the team's analytical and commercial capabilities.
• Introduce best practice processes without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Work collaboratively across the wider business.

Working with the Leadership Team

This role will have significant visibility across the business and will work closely with the CEO and Directors.

The successful candidate will be expected to bring their own point of view and experience to the table.

You will be involved in key commercial decisions and will have the confidence to challenge, influence, and recommend changes where you see opportunities to improve performance.

The ideal candidate will enjoy working in an entrepreneurial environment where priorities can move quickly and where there is a strong expectation to take ownership rather than wait for instruction.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for an experienced merchandising professional who has operated at a senior level within a fast-growing retail, fashion, sportswear, performance apparel, or D2C environment.

You will ideally have:

• Significant experience in merchandising, ideally at Senior Merchandiser / Merchandising Manager / Head of Merchandising level, within a D2C fashion brand.
• Experience managing and developing a merchandising team.
• Strong commercial and analytical capability.
• Proven experience with range planning and forecasting.
• Strong understanding of stock management, intake, sell-through, and margin.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Excellent understanding of customer and product performance data.
• Experience working closely with senior leadership or founders.
• Strong Excel and analytical skills.
• The ability to turn complex data into clear commercial actions.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial, and hands-on approach.
• The confidence to make decisions and take ownership.

Experience within sportswear, activewear, performance apparel, fashion, or a similar consumer product environment would be highly advantageous. International / multi-market experience would be beneficial, particularly UK, European, or US markets.

The Person

We're looking for someone who is:

• Commercially driven: You naturally think about sales, margin, stock, customer demand, and the overall commercial impact of every decision.
• Analytical: You are comfortable working with data and can quickly identify the story behind the numbers.
• Decisive: You don't need everything to be perfect before making a decision. You can assess the information available, make a recommendation, and take ownership of the outcome.
• Entrepreneurial: You enjoy working in a growing business where you can build, improve, and make a tangible difference.
• Strategic but hands-on: You can build a merchandising strategy but are equally comfortable getting into the detail when required.
• Collaborative: You enjoy working closely with founders, directors, and cross-functional teams and can influence stakeholders effectively.
• Growth-minded: You are excited by the opportunity to help build a merchandising function capable of supporting significant international growth.

What You'll Get

• £70k - £80k
• Manchester Head Office — 4 days per week
• 1 day working from home
• A senior position within a rapidly growing D2C sports performance brand
• Direct exposure to the CEO and Directors
• Significant influence over the merchandising strategy and wider commercial direction
• The opportunity to help shape the next stage of international growth
• The opportunity to build and develop an existing merchandising team
• A fast-paced, entrepreneurial working environment
• The chance to join the business at a pivotal stage of its growth journey
• Private health care
• Gym
• Pension