Vlisco Group
Vlisco Group is a company with an exciting story to tell. For the past 166 years, Vlisco has created high-end and highly desired textiles, which have become part of the vibrant culture of West and Central Africa. Vlisco Group has four brands in its portfolio: Vlisco, Woodin, Uniwax and GTP. With headquarters in the Netherlands and production facilities in the Netherlands, Ivory Coast and Ghana, numerous local offices and retail stores across Africa and around 2,700 employees, Vlisco Group is expanding and looking for candidates who can contribute to its ambitious future growth plans. Since 2010 Vlisco Group has been owned by Actis (www.act.is), a UK based private equity fund specialised in emerging markets investments. Our objective is to accelerate growth and double our business every five years.
Working at Vlisco
An interesting and new position in a professional and creative environment. We are offering a fulltime position, based in the Vlisco Group Retail Centre Of Excellence, in Accra, Ghana with an excellent remuneration package within a dynamic, emerging market. You will be a member of the enthusiastic and professional Retail team, reporting directly to the Retail Director.
Do you have what it takes to play a crucial role in establishing Woodin as the first Pan-African vertical retail brand? Do you have the relentless energy it takes to build the long term product assortment of Woodin? We are recruiting:
PRODUCT MERCHANT WOODIN
Location: Accra, Ghana
Challenge
• Map Woodin’s current fast fashion product development process (flowcharts, timelines, dependencies on various product categories), supporting the Woodin Product Management Director in the product development process.
• Adopt the existing long term assortment plan and develop it to the next level, including line architecture, price architecture, category architecture and product group architecture for both fabrics and ready to wear product ranges.
• Manage the product selection (retail buying) for the monobranded Woodin Stores (today #25, rapidly increasing), based on ABC store types, within the framework provided by the retail Merchandise Planning & Control manager.
• Work closely together with the Retail Merchandise Planning & Control Manager to identify new product possibilities and analyze product performance.
• Analyze retail & wholesale performance data and to propose good performing SKUs for new product translations.
• Ensure concept-to-market alignment by ensuring alignment of both Retail shop drop moments and Wholesale launch moments, while considering pan African logistic lead times.
• Embedding optimal retail buying moments into the 52-week brand merchandising calendar, and ensuring on time execution of retail buying, while aligning with retail merchandise planning.
• Introduce and manage 52-week calendar for product development and retail buying.
What do we expect from you?
We are looking for ambitious and independent thinkers who are up for new challenges and responsibilities and who are flexible enough to join us in our journey for growth.
• Relevant experience of fashion product merchandising in a medium sized international businessRelevant experience of fashion retail buying
• Strong understanding of brand and product management
• Understanding of Fashion and Fabrics manufacturing, logistics, duties,- retail and wholesale.
• Understanding retail merchandise planning and control processes.
• Good understanding of commercial and financial requirements and KPIs with a focus on data analysis.
• Entrepreneurial personality, Team Player, Pro-active and decisive.
• Fluent in English and French
• Willingness to be based in Accra.
Applying
If you are the candidate we are looking for, please apply now