Senior Director of Merchandising and Buying, EMEA

Department: Merchandising

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: London Office, London, United Kingdom

Reporting To: Dawn Vitale

Description

Key Responsibilities

• Own and execute the merchandising and buying strategy for the EMEA marketplace across Owned Retail, Wholesale, and Franchise. 
• Translate global brand and product strategies into a clear EMEA commercial strategy that reflects regional customer needs, market dynamics, and growth priorities. 
• Partner with EMEA leadership to establish seasonal and annual commercial objectives, identifying the product and assortment strategies required to deliver against them. 
• Identify marketplace opportunities, product gaps, emerging consumer trends, and commercial risks to maximize revenue, margin, and long-term growth. 
• Use regional, market, and channel performance to continually evolve the EMEA merchandising strategy. 
• Serve as the regional product and commercial expert, providing clear recommendations to EMEA and Global leadership. 

• Own seasonal buying and assortment decisions across the EMEA marketplace. 
• Build localized assortments informed by customer demand, climate, cultural considerations, market maturity, channel needs, and commercial opportunity. 
• Determine the appropriate category mix, breadth, depth, size curves, and inventory investment by market and channel. 
• Ensure assortments maintain the integrity of the global SKIMS product vision while maximizing relevance and commercial opportunity within EMEA. 
• Partner closely with Planning to establish seasonal buys and inventory investments aligned with sales, margin, and productivity targets. 
• Ensure global product launches are appropriately bought and commercialized for EMEA markets. 

• Own the regional merchandising response to in-season performance, partnering closely with Planning to maximize sales, margin, sell-through, and inventory productivity. 
• Monitor performance across markets, channels, categories, and key product franchises, identifying risks and opportunities early. 
• Recommend and execute assortment, inventory, replenishment, and allocation actions based on trading performance. 
• Partner with Planning on forecasting, replenishment, inventory transfers, and seasonal inventory strategies. 
• Inform regional markdown, promotional, and exit strategies where appropriate. 
• Maintain a clear view of inventory health across the EMEA marketplace and ensure inventory supports both global launches and regional commercial priorities. 

• Develop differentiated merchandising strategies across Owned Retail, Wholesale, and Franchise while ensuring a consistent SKIMS brand and product experience. 
• Owned Retail:- Build assortments that maximize productivity across flagship stores, boutiques, and future retail locations, using store-level performance and customer insights to inform decisions. 
• Wholesale:-Partner with Wholesale teams and key accounts on seasonal buys, assortment architecture, product presentations, and account-specific commercial opportunities. 
• Franchise:- Develop merchandising frameworks and assortments that protect the SKIMS brand while responding appropriately to local customer and market needs. 
• Analyze performance by channel and account to identify opportunities for growth, assortment optimization, and improved productivity. 
• Ensure channel strategies complement one another and support the overall EMEA marketplace strategy. 

• Lead the merchandising and buying strategy for SKIMS expansion into new EMEA markets. 
• Develop localized launch assortments and inventory strategies based on market potential, customer profile, climate, channel mix, and expected demand. 
• Partner with Retail, Wholesale, Franchise, Planning, Finance, and regional leadership to establish commercially appropriate launch plans. 
• Provide regional input into pricing architecture, considering local market dynamics, competitive positioning, customer expectations, currency, duties, and margin requirements. 
• Evaluate early trading performance in new markets and rapidly adjust assortments and inventory strategies based on customer response. 
• Build scalable merchandising frameworks that support continued expansion across Europe and the Middle East. 

• Act as the voice of the EMEA customer and marketplace within global merchandising and product conversations. 
• Provide Global Merchandising and Product teams with actionable insights on regional customer behavior, product performance, market trends, competitive activity, and assortment opportunities. 
• Identify regional product gaps and opportunities that could unlock incremental growth within EMEA. 
• Influence future product development, seasonal assortment architecture, size strategies, and launch priorities through data-backed regional recommendations. 
• Partner collaboratively with Global teams, recognizing global ownership of the overarching product strategy while ensuring EMEA marketplace needs are clearly represented. 
• Create a strong feedback loop between EMEA marketplace performance and Global product decision-making. 

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing EMEA merchandising and buying organization. 
• Establish clear accountability, ways of working, and decision-making frameworks across the regional merchandising function. 
• Develop strong merchant capability across product knowledge, commercial acumen, customer insight, analytics, and in-season trading. 
• Coach and mentor the team to balance strong product instincts with rigorous, data-led decision-making. 
• Build scalable processes, tools, and operating rhythms that support the continued growth of the EMEA business. 
• Foster a collaborative culture and strong partnership across EMEA and Global functions. 
• Develop future merchandising leadership capability and succession within the team. 
• Champion operational excellence, commercial accountability, and continuous improvement across the function. 

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Merchandising, Fashion, Retail Management, or a related discipline.
•  10+ years of progressive experience in Merchandising, Buying, or Commercial leadership within premium fashion or lifestyle brands. 
•  Significant experience operating across multiple international markets, preferably within EMEA. 
•  Proven experience supporting Retail, Wholesale, and Franchise business models. 
•  Strong understanding of regional consumer behavior, assortment localization, and international merchandising strategies. 
•  Demonstrated success driving commercial growth across omnichannel environments. 
•  Advanced analytical skills with expertise in assortment planning, inventory management, forecasting, and financial analysis. 
•  Experience working closely with global headquarters while representing regional business needs. 
•  Strong executive presence with exceptional communication and influencing skills. 
•  Advanced proficiency in Excel and merchandising/planning systems such as Anaplan, SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, or similar platforms. 

•  A commercially driven leader who combines strong analytical thinking with exceptional product instincts. 
•  Deep understanding of the EMEA retail landscape and evolving consumer trends. 
•  Strategic thinker who can translate regional insights into actionable business strategies. 
•  Comfortable balancing global brand consistency with local market relevance. 
•  Highly collaborative with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders across multiple regions and time zones. 
•  Entrepreneurial, adaptable, and energized by building within a high-growth, fast-paced environment. 
•  Customer-obsessed and passionate about delivering exceptional product experiences. 
•  Hands-on leader who enjoys working both strategically and operationally. 
•  Embodies the SKIMS Standard by leading with curiosity, innovation, ownership, collaboration, and a relentless commitment to excellence. 

Benefits, Culture and Perks