Manager, Merchandising Operations - APAC

As the Manager, Merchandising Operations - APAC, you are the regional owner of the operating rhythm that enables the APAC Merchandising organization to deliver each season with clarity, consistency, and speed. You translate Global Innovation-to-Consumer (I2C) and Go-to-Market (GTM) milestones into clear APAC inputs, decisions, and deliverables, ensuring the Region is ready across assortment, buy, commercialization, and launch milestones. The role connects Global Product, Process Operations, APAC and Country Merchandising, MP&A, Demand Planning, Brand/Marketing, VM, Commercial, and Supply Chain, and is embedded in the ownership of how APAC Merchandising operates, with responsibility for process, governance, tools, seasonal readiness, and cross-functional follow-through.

Responsibilities

Own the integrated APAC I2C / GTM calendar and run the seasonal cadence, including Global Kick-off, Regional Line Planning, Regional Handover, Country Line Reviews, Buy Reviews, launch readiness and hindsight; Turn Global milestones into actions with owners and deadlines and act as point person for seasonal readiness; Work with Global Process Operations, consolidate country inputs into one APAC view, and represent APAC in Global forums; Standardize ways of working while allowing for local needs; Maintain RACI, decision rights, SOPs and escalation paths; Prepare agendas, decision packs and executive-ready materials, and clarify handoffs across functions; Own the APAC source of truth, including the Smart Calendar Dashboard, milestone tracker and decision log; Flag risks early, recommend mitigations, and set KPIs for process health, readiness and data quality; Run the seasonal sample process, covering priorities, allocation, tracking and shortage resolution; Standardize calendars and templates, work with Technology and Data teams on automation, fix recurring friction, build playbooks and onboarding, and lead seasonal retrospectives

Requirements

6+ years of experience in Merchandising Operations, Product Operations, Merchandising, Retail Planning, Business Operations, GTM, Program Management, or a related function within apparel, footwear, outdoor, retail, or consumer goods; Understanding of seasonal merchandising calendars, assortment development, product creation, pricing, distribution, sell-in, buy, and launch processes; Working knowledge of Innovation-to-Consumer (I2C), Go-to-Market, or comparable end-to-end commercialization processes; Experience operating in a complex, matrixed, multi-market global organization; Experience leading cross-functional programs involving multiple functions, markets, milestones, and senior stakeholders; Highly organized, able to simplify complex processes into clear roles, milestones, decisions, and deliverables; Able to influence without direct authority and confidently present status, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations to senior leaders; Proactively identifies root causes and develops practical, scalable solutions; Advanced in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; comfortable with Smartsheet or similar workflow, dashboard, and project-management tools; Willing and able to travel within APAC and globally as required

Nice to have

Experience with PLM, merchandising, planning, product-data, assortment, or business-intelligence systems