Group VP - Global Commercial Merchandising

ECCO; København; On-site; DKK 2,000,000 - 2,800,000; Full time

Job summary

ECCO is seeking a Group VP, Global Commercial Merchandising to design and lead a new function responsible for assortment, pricing and trading across wholesale, retail and digital. You will shape the operating model, govern pricing and drive global growth with cross-market teams.

This senior leadership role requires building a data-driven, commercially rigorous global capability, collaborating with regional leaders and executives, and traveling internationally to align markets.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of senior leadership experience in merchandising, trading or commercial planning at global or multi-region level.
• Built or transformed a merchandising/trading function and scaled it to a fully embedded global operation.
• End-to-end expertise across assortment strategy, pricing and margin management, inventory and OTB governance.
• Strong P&L ownership with a track record of improving KPIs such as margin and sell-through.
• Experience in a matrixed, multi-market organisation with credibility to align stakeholders without direct authority.
• Data-driven decision making; translate insights into clear strategic direction.
• Proven ability to build, develop and lead high-performing cross-functional teams and influence senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build and continuous development of Global Commercial Merchandising.
• Define and own the global merchandising operating model – governance, decision rights and ways of working.
• Own the global commercial performance view across channels, categories and markets.
• Set and be accountable for commercial targets that define the function’s contribution to ECCO’s P&L.
• Co-own global pricing strategy and governance with Finance.
• Hold accountability for margin performance through pricing decisions and markdown cadence.
• Lead the global assortment strategy and carrying-over programme.
• Lead the global trading calendar and inventory events to maximise full-price sell-through.
• Build relationships with Category Management, S&OP, Value Chain, Marketing and regional leadership.
• Recruit, develop and lead the team with clear purpose and accountability.

Skills

Senior leadership

Merchandising

Trading

Commercial planning

Job description

Do you want to own the commercial direction of a global footwear brand – what we range, how we price it, and how we trade it across every channel and market? And do you want to do that from a blank sheet, designing a new function rather than inheriting one? At ECCO, you’ll have the opportunity to build Global Commercial Merchandising from the ground up – and lead the team that sets the commercial direction the rest of the organisation builds against.

You set the commercial direction across channels and markets

Working across our office in Carlsbergbyen, Copenhagen, and our HQ in Tønder, you’ll step into a newly created leadership role in ECCO’s Global Commercial Merchandising function – a capability being established to own assortment, pricing and trading strategy across wholesale, retail and digital, in every market we operate in.

As Group VP, Global Commercial Merchandising, you’ll define how ECCO ranges, prices and trades its product globally. You’ll own the operating model that governs how global and regional teams work together – the governance, the decision rights, the ways of working – and you’ll build the team that makes it real.

This is as much a design mandate as an operating one. The function does not exist yet. You’ll shape it, staff it, and scale it into a fully operational global capability – working closely with our regional teams around the world, which will mean regular international travel.

You’ll take on broad commercial and leadership responsibility as you:

• Lead the design, build and continuous development of Global Commercial Merchandising, establishing it as a commercially authoritative and strategically essential capability within ECCO.
• Define and own the global merchandising operating model – governance, decision rights and ways of working – and the blueprint within which regional teams operate.
• Own the global commercial performance view across all channels, categories and markets, giving the organisation a forward-looking trading perspective that drives decisions rather than reporting on the past.
• Set and be accountable for the commercial targets that define the function’s contribution to ECCO’s P&L: full-price sell-through, markdown reduction, assortment productivity and gross margin improvement.
• Co-own global pricing strategy and governance with Finance, bringing a structured, data-driven approach to price architecture, localised RRP and promotional frameworks across all markets and currencies.
• Hold accountability for margin performance through pricing decisions, discount governance and markdown cadence – keeping pricing commercially disciplined and globally coherent.
• Lead the global assortment strategy, defining what ECCO ranges, prioritises, amplifies, reduces and exits across all channels and markets, and own the global ranging framework, store grade model and carry-over programme.
• Lead the global trading calendar, aligning seasonal priorities, product launches, promotional windows and inventory events – and ensure inventory is deployed to maximise full-price sell-through and minimise overstock.
• Build the relationships and formal feedback loops that make the mandate operational, with Category Management, S&OP, Value Chain, Marketing and regional leadership – and represent the function at executive level.
• Recruit, develop and lead the team, creating clarity of purpose and role for each member and connecting individual accountability to the function’s commercial objectives.

You create structure where none exists

You thrive where things don’t come pre-packaged. Where you need to build standards from scratch, align across functions and regions, and earn a mandate through commercial credibility rather than reporting lines.

You know the difference between a global function that sets direction and one that becomes a central bureaucracy – and you know that the difference is made by data-led decision making, commercial rigour and collaborative influence, not by control.

To Succeed In This Role, You’ll Likely

• Bring 10+ years of senior leadership experience in merchandising, trading or commercial planning within fashion, footwear or consumer goods retail, including at a global or multi-region level.
• Have built or transformed a merchandising, trading or commercial function – ideally scaling a capability from an early or evolving stage into a fully embedded global operation.
• Have deep, end-to-end commercial expertise across assortment strategy, pricing and margin management, inventory and OTB governance, and in-season trading.
• Have strong P&L ownership experience, with a record of driving KPIs such as full-price sell-through, margin and inventory productivity.
• Have operated in a matrixed, multi-market organisation, with the credibility to align product, regional and functional stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Make decisions confidently from data, translating complex commercial and consumer insight into clear strategic direction.
• Have built, developed and led high-performing commercial teams, and communicate with the clarity to influence senior leadership.

You Shape What The World Walks In

This is a rare opportunity to define the commercial spine of a global brand – what gets made, what gets ranged, what it costs, and how it sells in every market. Your decisions will be visible in stores, on partner sites and on ECCO.com, season after season. Reporting directly to our Group Chief Commercial Officer.

At ECCO, merchandising is not an administrative layer – it’s where commercial performance is won. You’ll lead the function that proves it.

Are you ready for your next challenge?

We will invite candidates for interviews on an ongoing basis, so do not hesitate to apply.

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CREATE THE FOOTPRINTS OF TOMORROW

Join us and you become part of a meaningful, developing and multicultural workplace with colleagues who are proud to create the footprints of tomorrow. Our offices and facilities around the world have an informal culture and relaxed dress code – our shoe code is slightly stricter.

Are you curious, passionate and ready to make an impact? Then you’ll fit right in.