E Merchandising Manager

GENERAL

The Middle East e-commerce activity will launch in 2027 and ensure the online distribution of Hermès products across United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. 

The Hermès.com Middle East team currently is organized into 3 departments: Merchandising, Customer & Services, and Operations.

This role sits within the E-Commerce Department of Hermès Middle East and you will be reporting directly to the E-commerce Project Manager. You will be part of the E-commerce launch in Middle East, recruiting and building the E-commerce Merchandising team: a team of 1 e-merchandiser in 2026 and 4 e-merchandisers in 2027.

You will be responsible for driving the e-business growth through an ambitious product strategy ensure a strong performance by leveraging several key drivers: product offer and planning, omnichannel strategy, SEA strategy, and the animation of visual merchandising and editorial content across the website. You will manage related buying activities and closely monitor product supply across all categories available on the website. You will contribute to the visibility and influence of the entity and actively participate in key strategic decisions.

You will work closely with all internal teams and maintain strong relationships with European central teams, Product Divisions, and Group Digital teams.

You have a holistic view of business challenges, are highly business-oriented, and demonstrate strong product sensitivity. You can unite and lead teams and possess excellent interpersonal skills.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Management – Build, Lead and Develop the E-merchandising team

• Recruit the team and manage it across 4 main areas: E-Retail Merchandising, E-Retail Planning, Traffic Acquisition (SEA) & Data Performance, E-Visual Merchandising & Editorial Animation.

• Drive a shared vision for the subsidiary and the Merchandising & Data team.

• Define clear roles and responsibilities and ensure strong collaboration and synergies across teams.

• Support the development of team members through training, methodologies, best practices, and individual career development.

1. Contribute to Budget Achievement & Act as Category Expert

• Contribute to the subsidiary’s merchandising strategy and key decisions by providing a strong business and management perspective.

• Bring a strategic product vision to support business growth.

• Deliver budget targets for the assigned categories while managing sell-through (ST) and months of stock (MOS) objectives.

• Produce accurate and regular reporting on category performance by country, and share the appropriate level of information

• Monitor business evolution (category mix, product performance, etc.) and implement action plans and/or adjust buying strategies accordingly.

• Identify new business growth levers (e-visual merchandising, traffic, training, etc.) and contribute to the development of the omnichannel strategy.

• Build strong relationships with the central European team to ensure clarity around the subsidiary’s strategy and to advocate for its business priorities.

• Collaborate with retail and merchandising team on omnichannel initiatives.

• Establish strong partnerships E-Operations to ensure a smooth operation flow especially during the peak months

• Train CRC teams ahead of collection and product launches and build strong link with this to ensure product strategy and key commercial moments are well understood.

1. Retail Merchandising & Planning – Define an Ambitious Product Strategy

• Define and deploy a robust and ambitious product strategy to drive sustainable business growth.

• Build product assortments and sizing strategies aligned with revenue targets

• Define Open-to-Buy (OTB) budgets in collaboration with the Retail Planner, in line with the overall Hermès.com strategy and the growth opportunities of each category

• Prepare buying sessions and propose a tailored strategy for each category ahead of Previews/Podiums, addressing the specific needs of different markets.

• Execute and oversee the buying activities by defining assortments and offer sizing in line with business objectives (assortment breadth and depth).

• Define and manage the assortment of Permanent Stocked items in collaborations with the Retail Planners to ensure a global strategy across Middle East (Stores & E-commerce).

• Ensure optimal end-of-season stock positioning, taking P&L impacts into account. Monitor stock coverage by category and identify risks and opportunities.

• Ensure a strong collaboration with the Retail Merchandising team to align on omnichannel strategy and optimize the stock levels across Middle East.

1. Visual Merchandising & Editorial Animation – Enhance Site Attractiveness

• Ensure that visual merchandising, homepages, and newsletters are compelling, aligned with the product strategy, and consistent with Group and Middle East subsidiaries’ launch calendars.

• Implement website personalization based on local customer specificities and varying market maturity levels.

• Contribute to continuous improvement of the customer journey in close collaboration with Group Digital teams.

• Manage with your team the digital animation calendar and proactively propose editorial initiatives based on business needs and product news, in collaboration with Communication teams.

• Ensure all in-stock products have the required assets (visuals, product descriptions, etc.) to be published online and follow up with Group Digital teams as needed.

• Analyse with your team and share Visual Merchandising performance using Contentsquare.

• Analyse with your team and share emailing and cross-selling performance using Google Analytics dashboards.

1. Data & Traffic Acquisition – Drive Performance Through SEA Strategy

• Analyse all traffic sources.

• Define a short- and long-term SEA strategy aligned with the product strategy and business objectives together with the Traffic Manager.

EXPERIENCE  

• A bachelor's degree or Master’s degree (Bac +5) from a university or business school

• At least 8 years of experiences in Retail Merchandising 

• Experience In E-commerce 

• Strong product sensitivity and aesthetic awarenesstails

• Strong strategic vision and the ability to manage a business unit holistically

• Strong analytical and synthesis capabilities 

• Understanding of business dynamics and commercial mindset

• Coherent decision-making abilities based on analytical thinking and commercial creativity

• Strong management skills, ability to lead and motivate a team and drive performance

• Ability to translate corporate guidelines into local market needs

• Problem solver mindset & hands-on attitude

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a customer service orientation;

• Team player mentality to build meaningful relationships and ability to work autonomously;

• Availability, flexibility and dynamism to function in a high-pace environment;

• Flexibility to travel

• Strong IT skills