Head of Merchandising - Grimsby

Head of Merchandising jobs

Overseeing the merchandising department, this role often involves working with the UK and international function, where appropriate, to identify new market opportunities and partner relationships.

Head of Merchandising often works closely with Head of Buying in a business to deliver appropriate ranges that are seasonally focused, ensuring key international events and counter-seasonal markets are catered for.

Central to partner communications, Head of Merchandising roles are brand ambassadors in all meetings and negotiations and there is an emphasis on working with the senior leadership team to define and deliver a clear strategy for the future.

This role involves leading and motivating the team to ensure consistently high standards and best practice are maintained across all processes.

The role offers the opportunity to build and consolidate relationships with existing stores, wholesale and franchise partners through on-going communication and delivery of mutual objectives.

The skills required

As Head of Merchandising you will have experience of working within international wholesale and franchise models, with extensive knowledge of buying and merchandising principles and processes. An understanding of global markets is essential as well as the ability to translate customer insight into working practice.

As a skilled communicator you will be a confident negotiator and well versed in relationship building.

Commercial acumen is mandatory as Head of Merchandising as well as the ability to think strategically. In a fast-moving market, resilience is a valued quality as well as being an agile thinker and problem solver.

Head of Merchandising Jobs in Grimsby

As town names go, Grimsby might sound a little unoptimistic, although one theory is that the name bore no relation to the demeanour of the town; it was simply named after a Dane named Grim, who probably went out of his was to prove his conviviality by doing exciting things like founding towns. There was a presence in Roman times, but it appears that the town was mainly founded by the Vikings, so maybe the legend is true.

It was during the early 1800s that the town really grew in size, though, becoming an important port on the east coast of Britain, and industrial scale fishing started, to feed the booming population. By 1848 the town had a railway link, and grew even more, becoming a major port for exporting coal. Grimsby was targeted during WW2 (although not its famous tower, which bomber pilots used for naviagation).

After the 1950s, Grimsby’s fishing was to go into terminal decline, although the fish market remains a thriving part of the town, and is indeed the largest in the UK (although little of the produce is from the North Sea). This is partly why food processing and frozen food companies are a key part of its modern economy. Young’s and Findus both have large presences in the town.
The cargo ports at Grimsby and Immingham is the busiest in the UK by tonnage, its georgraphical location being a great help for hopping across to mainland Europe to Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. And wherever there are ports, there is an ongoing demand for Head of Merchandising jobs, and Grimsby is no exception.

Popular locations

Search for Head of Merchandising opportunities with Cast UK

As market leading recruitment specialists for professional level merchandising roles, Cast UK is committed to building long-term relationships with our clients, enabling us to understand their business models and the positions they are recruiting.

We get to know the personalities and objectives of each candidate; understanding what motivates them, and the appropriate cultural fit for them. This attention to detail means that we are able to make excellent matches between applicants and employers, making placements that are lasting and mutually rewarding.

To find out more about how Cast UK can help you recruit a Head of Merchandising role for your business or find you a job as Head of Merchandising, contact one of our consultant team on 0333 121 3345

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