Lead Buying and Merchandising Kids

Role Overview

The Category Lead Kids Retail will be responsible for driving end-to-end category performance, including buying, merchandising, pricing, inventory planning, and profitability. The role requires strong commercial acumen, trend understanding, vendor management capability, and cross-functional coordination to deliver growth, margin, and sell-through targets.

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Strategy & P&L Ownership

• Own the complete P&L for assigned kidswear categories.
• Develop seasonal and annual category strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Drive revenue growth, margin expansion, and inventory optimization.

2. Buying & Assortment Planning

• Curate customer-relevant assortments based on trend insights and sales analytics.
• Lead range planning, option depth, pricing architecture, and OTB management.
• Ensure right mix of core, fashion, and seasonal products.

3. Vendor & Sourcing Coordination

• Collaborate with sourcing team to ensure timely development and production.
• Negotiate cost prices and improve product margins.
• Monitor vendor performance, lead times, and quality benchmarks.

4. Inventory & Sell-Through Management

• Track sell-through, ageing, and stock cover on a weekly basis.
• Drive replenishment, markdown strategy, and liquidation planning.
• Ensure optimum stock allocation across stores and channels.

5. Store & Channel Performance

• Partner with Regional Ops to drive category sell-out at store level.
• Analyze regional trends and customize assortment where required.
• Support VM and marketing initiatives to maximize category visibility.

6. Market & Trend Analysis

• Monitor competition, pricing benchmarks, and emerging trends in kidswear.
• Use data analytics to identify growth opportunities and white spaces.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong business and financial acumen (P&L ownership).
• Data-driven decision making.
• Trend sensitivity and product eye for kids fashion.
• Negotiation and vendor management skills.
• Cross-functional stakeholder management.
• Strong planning and forecasting capability.