EMEA Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning

The organisation

New Balance is a family-owned American sports footwear and apparel brand steeped in history, established in 1906. The company started as a one-person operation manufacturing arch supports. Today, it has expanded into a global corporation selling its popular sportswear in over 120 countries worldwide. 

Products are sold all over the EMEA region, with the top five countries in sales being the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. The EMEA region’s Direct to Consumer (DTC) division is based in Amsterdam. The brand wants to aid athletes in their pursuits, whether that means helping professional athletes set records and win medals, propelling everyday athletes to achieve a new personal record, encouraging newbies to run their first five kilometers, or helping people live a healthier and more active lifestyle.

New Balance’s products are the perfect blend of function and fashion. They have the performance technology people need, and the style people want. While the company offers great quality products, they’re just as committed to giving back to its communities and to fostering equal opportunities, diversity, and inclusion throughout the global organization.

“Employees with diverse backgrounds combined with our core values make us an innovative and winning team. We infuse creativity in everything we do to create the next successful chapter of this great company.” Joe Preston, President/CEO at New Balance

The brand has never been hotter, and the company is ambitious for the upcoming years. There is a lot to achieve: next to the natural expansion of e-commerce and the launch of new retail stores, DTC Merchandising & Planning will be a significant contributor to growth. Hence, the new EMEA Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning will significantly impact the company’s success.

The position

The EMEA Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning is a role with a significant impact on New Balance’s future growth in EMEA countries, as they establish the best merchandising team, buying strategies, and merchandising metrics. This role leads and develops the merchandising strategy and execution in EMEA to support the profitability and efficient operation of the DTC channels (owned retail, e-commerce, and marketplaces). 

To deliver the right product strategy to achieve the retail and digital ambitions, the Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning will effectively manage the retail and online merchandising team. This team currently consists of fourteen people. This role aims to develop the best-in-class merchandising function that aligns with the company’s objectives and strategy. The Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning has a clear focus on making the team successful by hiring the best people as well as coaching and motivating them to be successful. Continuously improving the ways of working to implement best practices is another exciting part of the role. 

Effective stock holding will be in the hands of the Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning, as they will oversee the overall buying process and financial budgets. Together with Product Merchandising, they will strategize the DTC needs for footwear, apparel, and accessory products. 

The Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning team will take the regional assortment and develop this into merchandise plans for each channel, ensuring feedback to regional and global teams around further range and product opportunities. They will influence visual presentation plans in different store formats and e-commerce branded sites, to create a brand-relevant experience for customers. They will support the merchandising team in competitive shopping and trend reviews as part of their efforts to maximize the business of their category. The Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning furthermore owns the promotional and pricing strategy, including product flow and markdown management.

The DTC Merchandising & Planning team also partners with other New Balance departments to optimize merchandising more broadly. For example, they work closely with technology teams to ensure merchandising tools and systems support business needs. And they partner with the e-commerce team to monitor campaign performance and look for ways to optimize website navigation. 

In order to maintain an ongoing assessment of business, the Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning defines and owns key merchandising metrics. They identify potential up- and downsides, and develop strategies to address risks and seize opportunities. For instance, for this coming year, New Balance will ask the Head of DTC Merchandising & Planning to gather insights from different places in the organization to bet on some key opportunities in the buying process.

“The company’s success, especially in e-commerce and marketplace sales, is highly dependent on the success of our DTC merchandising strategy and execution. And there is a lot to achieve in the coming years.” – Gemma Rhodes, Director of DTC EMEA at New Balance

People are at the heart of New Balance’s success. It is not a company where people usually walk traditional career paths and ample opportunities to explore new (international) avenues and growth opportunities are available as part of continued career growth. 

Candidate profile

• Over 10 years of working experience in retail, including merchandising and planning
• Building and strengthening teams
• International experience
• Hands-on
• Stakeholder management

* Research shows that while male candidates feel confident enough to apply when they meet about 60% of the requirements, female candidates only apply when they tick every box. So if this role has your name on it, but you’re not sure about the criteria, we still want to hear from you.

Interested?

You are invited to apply for this role by following the link below.