Senior Merchandising Manager

Salt are partnered with a multi-market ecommerce business on a Senior Merchandising Manager, leading the curation and expansion of its European product assortment. This is a high-impact role where you’ll shape category strategy, build partnerships with top-tier brands, and influence revenue growth across multiple markets.

You’ll combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution, negotiating commercial agreements, optimising margins, and driving catalogue decisions that directly affect performance. Working across cross-functional teams including planning, marketing, and compliance, you’ll ensure the product offering resonates with customers while maintaining operational and regulatory excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Assortment & Category Leadership

• Lead the development and optimisation of the product assortment across multiple European markets, ensuring alignment with commercial objectives and customer demand.
• Identify, evaluate, and onboard high-potential brands and suppliers to drive category expansion and revenue growth.
• Shape regional category strategy in partnership with senior merchandising leadership and cross-regional stakeholders.

Commercial Ownership & Negotiation

• Take full accountability for core category performance metrics, including pricing architecture, margin delivery, promotional strategy, and lifecycle management.
• Negotiate favourable commercial agreements covering cost prices, trade investment, marketing contributions, rebates, volume incentives, and supply terms.
• Continuously assess cost structures, pricing strategies, and system updates to protect and enhance margin performance.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Develop and maintain strategic supplier partnerships that support innovation, margin enhancement, and operational excellence.
• Manage vendor contracts, new product onboarding, performance reviews, and issue resolution in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Work closely with planning and inventory teams to align forecasts, stock turns, vendor performance metrics, and replenishment cycles.
• Partner with marketing to design commercially effective promotional programmes that deliver profitable growth.

Required Experience and Skills

• 10+ years of progressive experience in buying, category management, merchandising, or a comparable commercial leadership role within a multi-market retail or ecommerce environment.
• Strong track record of negotiating complex commercial agreements and delivering margin improvement.
• Advanced analytical capability, with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into actionable commercial decisions.
• Deep understanding of pricing strategy, margin structures, promotional mechanics, and category performance drivers.
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels internally and externally.
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, particularly across merchandising, planning, compliance, and marketing functions.
• Experience working across multiple European markets preferred.

*Rates depend on experience and client requirements