Head of Merchandising Recruitment
Encore Recruitment provides head of merchandising recruitment as part of our wider retail merchandiser recruitment service for fashion and lifestyle businesses across the UK.
Head of merchandising can describe materially different leadership roles across fashion and lifestyle businesses.
In one business, the role may centre on sales, stock, planning and trade. In another, it may lead product, range and market decisions. In a supplier or importer, the emphasis may sit with production, suppliers, critical paths and delivery. Some businesses combine elements of more than one.
In the retail merchandising route, the starting point is responsibility for stock, planning and trading. The remit may extend further depending on the business.
The title suggests the level. The conversation defines the role. The role shapes the search.
Before any search begins, the role needs to be clear: what sits within it, what sits elsewhere and what the person is being asked to take responsibility for. Encore Recruitment uses that context to shape the search and assess the evidence behind each candidate’s experience.
Key Takeaways
- Head of merchandising does not describe one consistent function. The role may centre on stock, planning and trade; product, range and market; production, suppliers and delivery; or a combination shaped by the business.
- The brief needs to show why this Head role exists. Is the business asking someone to strengthen trading, reshape the range, improve supplier or delivery performance, build the team, or bring more structure to the function?
- The recommendation follows the role, not the title. We assess whether the candidate has led comparable work, carried the level of responsibility this role requires and can evidence what followed. The candidate also needs to see this version of head of merchandising clearly and want to take it on before we recommend them.
What Does the Title Mean in This Business?
Head of merchandising may describe leadership of stock, planning and trade; product, range and market; or production, suppliers and delivery.
In retail merchandising, the role may include sales, stock, WSSI, OTB, forecasting, margin, markdown and trading performance. In product or market-led businesses, it may centre on assortment, pricing, range architecture and channel or regional decisions.
In supplier and importer businesses, the emphasis may move towards production planning, factories, critical paths, customer communication and delivery.
Hybrid businesses can bring several of these areas together.
The work being led matters more than the title. Where the role is centred on stock, planning and trade, our retail merchandising recruitment page gives the closer context. Where it is centred on suppliers, production and delivery, our import merchandising recruitment page does.
What Is the Role Expected to Take Responsibility For?
The role may carry responsibility for trading performance, range direction, supplier performance, production and delivery, team performance or how the function is organised.
Which of these matters depends on the business and why the role exists.
The role may include setting priorities across teams, establishing how work is managed, improving visibility or control, resolving competing demands and carrying broader commercial or operational outcomes.
A retail head of merchandising may be responsible for stock, margin and trading decisions across categories or channels. A supplier-side head of merchandising may be responsible for factory performance, capacity, critical paths and delivery across customers or product areas. A product-led head of merchandising may carry responsibility for assortment, pricing or market direction.
The title may be the same. What the person is being asked to take responsibility for may not be.
How Does Encore Recruitment Assess and Recommend?
Encore Recruitment assesses candidates against the specific function, responsibility and business context of the role before applying our Recommendation Standard.
Through our recruitment process, we first establish what the role covers, why it is needed and what the person is expected to take responsibility for.
We look at what someone has led, what they were responsible for, what sat elsewhere, the decisions they made and what followed. We also look at how they handled competing priorities, worked across functions and led people or standards.
The opportunity is discussed with the candidate first, including what the role covers and what will be expected of them. The candidate decides whether they want to explore that version of Head of Merchandising.
Only with their agreement, and where the assessment supports it, do we recommend them to the client under our Recommendation Standard.
FAQ
Is head of merchandising the same role in every fashion or lifestyle business?
No. The title may describe retail planning and trading, product and market merchandising, supplier-side production merchandising or a hybrid role. The function being led needs to be established before the title becomes useful.
Is head of merchandising the next step after senior merchandiser or merchandising manager?
Not automatically. Progression varies with the business and the function being led. Relevant backgrounds may include merchandising, planning, trading, buying, production or commercial roles. What matters is the responsibility someone has taken on and the evidence behind it, rather than a fixed title sequence.
What should a hiring client define before recruiting a head of merchandising?
Start with the work the role covers, why it is needed and what the person will be responsible for. The brief should also show how the role works alongside buying, finance, production, sourcing, sales, technical and senior leadership.
Hiring a Head of Merchandising?
Talk to Encore Recruitment about what the role needs to cover and what you need the person to take responsibility for.
Submit a Vacancy → or Contact Us →
Considering a Head of Merchandising Role?
Start a conversation with Encore Recruitment about what you are responsible for now and the type of merchandising role you want to take on next.