Vice President - Merchandising

The Vice President – Merchandising is a commercially driven business leader accountable for revenue, profitability, working capital discipline, and sustainable growth of an assigned hardgoods and consumer products portfolio. Operating within a principal trading business model, this role owns the commercial agenda and leads end-to-end merchandising, sourcing, product development, customer and supplier management, and supply chain execution.
We seek an entrepreneurial, decisive, results-oriented leader who takes initiative, builds high-performing teams, wins new business, and translates strategy into measurable outcomes. The individual must be culturally fluent in working with US and European customers and senior executives, able to navigate their commercial expectations and communication styles, and confident leading cross-border teams and partnerships.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Business Leadership & P&L Management

• Own portfolio revenue, margin, contribution, profitability, working capital and overall commercial performance; establish ambitious, measurable goals and deliver against them.

• Develop and execute business plans that protect the core portfolio while winning new customers, expanding categories and accelerating profitable growth.

• Use financial and operating data to identify opportunities, take timely decisions, address underperformance and improve productivity and returns.

• Lead with urgency and accountability; anticipate issues, remove barriers and personally drive critical priorities to completion.

2. Customer Management & Commercial Development

• Build trusted, strategic relationships with global customers, including senior US and European retail and brand leaders.

• Lead proactive commercial engagement on category strategy, product development, pricing, innovation, quality, compliance and long-term sourcing plans.

• Identify customer needs and white-space opportunities; convert ideas and proposals into new business and profitable category expansion.

• Communicate clearly, challenge constructively and negotiate confidently across Western and Asian business environments.

3. Merchandising, Sourcing & Category Leadership

• Lead multi-category hardgoods and consumer products merchandising and sourcing strategies, balancing cost, quality, speed, innovation and supply resilience.

• Drive differentiated product development, market and consumer insights, supplier innovation and competitive sourcing solutions.

• Translate market trends, raw-material movements and customer priorities into actionable category plans and commercial results.

4. Supplier / Factory Management & Supply Chain Excellence

• Build and strengthen a capable supplier and factory network across Hong Kong, China and other relevant sourcing markets.

• Lead strategic negotiations on pricing, payment terms, capacity, innovation and long-term supplier partnerships.

• Ensure disciplined order execution, service reliability, product quality, regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction.

• Proactively manage operational exposure and drive continuous improvement in speed, productivity and cost competitiveness.

5. Risk Management & Governance

• Own commercial and operational risk in a principal trading model, including margin exposure, working capital, supplier performance, product safety and compliance.

• Ensure adherence to customer requirements, applicable European regulatory standards and corporate governance policies; escalate material risks promptly with practical solutions.

6. Leadership & Organizational Development

• Lead from the front: set direction, make decisions, establish clear ownership and hold teams accountable for outcomes.

• Recruit, coach and develop high-performing, cross-border merchandising and sourcing teams; build a strong succession pipeline.

• Address underperformance directly and constructively, while empowering initiative, collaboration and independent problem-solving.

• Challenge the status quo and foster a fast-moving, commercially minded culture with a bias for action and continuous improvement

Role Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Merchandising, International Trade or a related field.

• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in merchandising, global sourcing, product development, trading or supply chain, including at least 8 years in senior leadership.

• Proven P&L and commercial ownership in a principal trading, sourcing or vendor business, with quantifiable results in revenue growth, margin improvement and business development.

• Demonstrated success leading multi-category hardgoods or consumer products portfolios and geographically dispersed, cross-functional teams.

• Substantial direct experience with US and/or European retailers or brands; strong understanding of Western business practices, stakeholder expectations, decision-making and negotiation styles.

• Entrepreneurial and action-oriented, with strong judgment, resilience, commercial curiosity and the ability to move between strategy and hands-on execution.

• Strong financial acumen, customer negotiation skills, supplier management capabilities and understanding of global product safety and regulatory requirements.

• Excellent English communication and executive presentation skills; Mandarin proficiency highly preferred.

• Willingness to travel internationally for customer engagement, supplier visits and business development.