Buying and Merchandising Manager

In partnership with our client, we are seeking a Buying and Merchandising Manager to lead the end-to-end merchandise planning, buying, inventory management, trading, and allocation function for a leading sportswear and lifestyle retail brand based in Lagos. You will drive profitable growth across own retail, franchise, e-commerce, and omnichannel channels, acting as the critical link between brand, supply chain, marketing, finance, and commercial teams. This is a senior, high-ownership role for someone who combines sharp commercial instincts with deep analytical capability and strong leadership. If you are ready to shape the assortment, own the numbers, and lead a high-performing merchandising team, we want to meet you.

Who are we looking for?

• You are a seasoned buying and merchandising professional with 8 to 12 years of experience in buying, merchandise planning, trading, or retail inventory management, ideally within sportswear, fashion, lifestyle, or large-format retail.
• You are commercially sharp and analytically strong, with advanced Excel skills, experience with SAP, O9, or Increff, and a deep understanding of how data drives better buying and inventory decisions.
• You are a strategic thinker who understands the full retail ecosystem, from assortment architecture and OTB planning to markdown strategy and omnichannel fulfillment.
• You are an experienced people leader who can build, develop, and hold a merchandising team accountable while fostering a culture of collaboration, performance, and continuous improvement.
• You are a strong cross-functional collaborator, comfortable working across supply chain, retail operations, e-commerce, finance, and brand teams to deliver shared commercial objectives.
• You are structured, detail-oriented, and process-driven, able to manage multiple planning cycles, seasonal reviews, and in-season trading activities simultaneously without losing accuracy or momentum.
• You are deeply familiar with omnichannel retail and understand how inventory, allocation, and replenishment strategies need to work differently across retail, franchise, and e-commerce channels.

Your Responsibilities…

Buying, Assortment and Merchandise Planning

• You will develop seasonal merchandise and assortment plans aligned with business strategy, consumer trends, and channel requirements, leading category, gender, channel, and store-level buy planning to achieve sales, margin, and inventory targets.
• You will drive Open-to-Buy planning and management across all channels, leading end-to-end Go-to-Market processes including assortment architecture, range width planning, ABC grading, product selections, and key initiative planning.
• You will build demand forecasts and buying plans based on historical performance, consumer insights, and growth objectives, partnering closely with the brand's merchandising teams to ensure optimal assortment and product lifecycle management.
• You will support segmentation and channel-exclusive product strategies to create differentiation and minimise channel cannibalization across the portfolio.

Trading and In-Season Management

• You will own in-season trading activities to maximise sales, margin, and inventory productivity, monitoring weekly and monthly performance across all channels and identifying opportunities and risks through trading analysis.
• You will manage product performance reviews, provide actionable insights to improve trading outcomes, and track product launches, new initiatives, and seasonal performance to optimise future buying decisions.
• You will drive full-price sell-through while maintaining healthy inventory levels, co-owning FPST and commercial review processes to refine future assortment and buying decisions.

Allocation, Replenishment and Inventory Management

• You will lead allocation and replenishment strategies to maximise availability and reduce stock-outs, ensuring optimal inventory deployment across stores, e-commerce, and omnichannel fulfillment locations.
• You will manage stock transfers, consolidation, and inventory balancing to improve productivity, reviewing cover weeks, depth, and size-level availability to improve inventory efficiency.
• You will partner with supply chain to ensure smooth merchandise flow and timely product availability, projecting inventory requirements and material balance through monthly sell-out tracking and forecasting.

Omnichannel Merchandising and Operations

• You will drive omnichannel inventory optimisation across retail, franchise, and e-commerce channels, implementing best practices to optimise OTB, allocation, replenishment, and inventory productivity across all touchpoints.
• You will lead horizontal initiatives requiring cross-functional coordination, support new store openings, dark stores, and omnichannel fulfillment projects, and act as the single point of contact for critical omnichannel merchandising initiatives.

Markdown, Promotions and Commercial Planning

• You will develop markdown and promotional strategies aligned with brand guidelines and commercial objectives, supporting the execution of End-of-Season Sales, Mid-Season Sales, and inventory liquidation strategies.
• You will plan and evaluate promotional calendars and recommend actions based on stock position and business performance, ensuring healthy terminal stock management while protecting margins and brand equity.

Analytics, Insights and Automation

• You will deliver robust merchandise analytics and business insights to support strategic decision-making, utilising data and predictive analysis to improve buying accuracy and inventory productivity.
• You will lead automation initiatives and the adoption of merchandising tools and systems, championing end-to-end merchandising transformation and best-in-class planning practices across the function.

Team Leadership

• You will lead and develop the buying, merchandising, and trading team, creating a high-performance culture through coaching, mentoring, and structured capability development.
• You will set clear goals and performance expectations aligned with business objectives, driving talent development, succession planning, and retention initiatives across the team.

What Success looks like…

• Consistent sales growth and gross margin achievement across all channels, with full-price sell-through maintained at healthy levels throughout the season.
• OTB adherence maintained across all channels, with buying plans that are accurate, well-structured, and consistently aligned to business targets.
• Inventory turnover and markdown efficiency improved year on year, with terminal stock managed proactively to protect both margins and brand equity.
• Forecast accuracy at a high and consistent level, enabling better buying decisions and reducing the frequency and cost of stock imbalances.
• Omnichannel fulfillment performance meeting defined targets, with seamless inventory availability across retail, franchise, and e-commerce channels.
• A high-performing, well-developed merchandising team that operates with commercial discipline, analytical rigour, and a continuous improvement mindset.

To be considered for this role you should have…

• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Fashion Management, Marketing, Economics, or a related field.
• 8 to 12 years of experience in buying, merchandising, planning, trading, or retail inventory management.
• Experience in sportswear, fashion, lifestyle, footwear, or large-format retail is strongly preferred.
• Strong exposure to omnichannel retail and merchandise planning environments.
• Advanced analytical and commercial acumen with strong Excel and data analysis capabilities.
• Experience with SAP, O9, Increff, or similar merchandising systems.
• Strong financial and inventory planning skills with excellent stakeholder management and communication capabilities.
• Strong leadership and people management experience with a structured, detail-oriented, and process-driven approach.

Challenges you may face in this role…

• Managing multiple seasonal buying cycles, in-season trading reviews, and allocation strategies simultaneously in a fast-paced retail environment where priorities shift quickly.
• Driving omnichannel inventory optimisation across retail, franchise, and e-commerce channels, each with different fulfillment requirements, customer expectations, and operational rhythms.
• Balancing the demands of full-price sell-through and margin protection with the need to move terminal stock quickly and decisively when trading conditions change.
• Leading and developing a specialised merchandising team while staying deeply hands-on with the analytics, trading, and planning work that drives commercial outcomes.
• Maintaining forecast accuracy and OTB discipline in a market where consumer demand, supply chain timelines, and brand priorities can all shift within the same season.

The Goodies…

• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• A senior, high-impact commercial role at the heart of a leading sportswear and lifestyle retail brand with real growth ambitions.
• The opportunity to lead a talented merchandising team and shape the buying, planning, and trading strategy of a brand that operates across multiple channels and markets.
• A collaborative environment where your analytical thinking, commercial instincts, and leadership are genuinely valued and directly influence the business's performance.