Head of Merchandise - Cotton On South Africa at Cotton On Group

Key Accountabilities

Lead merchandise strategy delivery in Africa

• Translate and activate global merchandise strategy in Africa with precision, ensuring alignment with brand intent and customer opportunity.
• Influence OTB to match brand and category opportunities, including optimal stock flow and availability aligned to seasonality, sales curves, and key trade moments.

Lead partnerships across global and local teams

• Serve as the lead merchandise partner to the global support centre, representing Africa’s needs while ensuring strategic alignment.
• Work closely with the Country MD and cross-functional leaders to connect merchandising to broader brand, retail, and customer goals.

Drive commercial performance across all channels 

• Own stock performance across retail and ecommerce from planning through to trade execution. 
• Lead investment and trade reviews, surfacing opportunities and risks early and driving action with pace. 
• Partner with DC and logistics teams to ensure volume planning and stock readiness supports commercial outcomes. 

Coach and develop a high-performing merchandise team 

• Build a team that’s customer-led, commercially curious, and confident in execution. 
• Foster a culture of feedback and coaching, with regular rhythms of check-ins and development that grow capability and support succession. 
• Model the Cotton On Group values and lead a culture of accountability, care, and commercial focus. 

Embed operational excellence and continuous improvement 

• Champion efficient planning processes that support speed, productivity, clarity, and strategic focus. 
• Review store, site, and DC performance to validate stock positioning and identify improvement opportunities. 
• Encourage smarter trading by using creative, brand-aligned levers beyond markdowns. 

Build strong cross-functional and cross-brand collaboration 

• Foster strong working relationships with Marketing, VM, Retail, and Finance to drive aligned trade actions and deliver on customer promise. 
• Collaborate across brands to share insights, learnings, and best practices, supporting shared success across the Africa portfolio. 

Desired Knowledge, Experience and Skills 

• A relevant bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in Commerce, Business Management, or a related field 
• 8 -10 years’ experience in Merchandise Planning or Buying, with at least 5 years in senior leadership within Retail apparel space. 
• Proven experience delivering commercial outcomes across multiple channels in a complex, fast-paced environment 
• Strong strategic thinking and analytical capability, with the ability to connect insight to action quickly 
• Demonstrated ability to influence and partner across global teams with confidence, credibility, and clarity 
• Deep commercial acumen with a track record in optimizing stock productivity, margin, and trade performance 
• A people-first leadership style with a strong focus on coaching, capability building, and accountability 
• Exceptional communicator who brings others along and builds trust across functions 
• Strong negotiation and problem-solving skills, grounded in curiosity and business context 
• Comfortable working in a matrix with the ability to navigate complexity and lead through collaboration 
• Known for integrity, resilience, and building high-impact relationships that deliver results 
• Passionate about customer connection, execution excellence, and enabling great work through great leadership