Merchandising Manager
Associated Lighting Company
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Job summary
Associated Lighting Company in India seeks a Senior Merchandiser to drive merchandising across lampshades, lighting and home decor. You will lead development, sampling, costing and supplier coordination to ensure on-time delivery and market-aligned offerings.
The role requires hands-on leadership of a merchandising team, strong buyer management, and excellent communication skills to manage international and domestic customers while optimizing margins and product quality.
Qualifications
- 15+ years of merchandising experience in lighting or related manufacturing/export.
- Experience in lighting, lampshades, home decor or related products.
- Strong product development and sampling experience.
- Experience handling international/domestic buyers and communication.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Understanding of materials, components, finishes, production processes and costing.
- Experience coordinating with factory, production, purchase and quality teams.
- Proven ability to lead and manage a merchandising team.
- Strong understanding of order execution and critical-path management.
- Ability to manage multiple customers and product categories simultaneously.
- Strong negotiation, analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Good knowledge of Excel, MIS and ERP systems.
- Ownership of on-time delivery, quality and customer satisfaction.
- Ability to work independently and make decisions under pressure.
Responsibilities
- Manage merchandising for lampshades, lighting and home decor products; develop according to trends and market needs.
- Serve as primary merchandising contact for customers and buyers; respond to queries and maintain relationships.
- Coordinate new product development, prototypes and pre-production approvals; ensure specs and aesthetics meet requirements.
- Handle end-to-end order lifecycle from enquiry to handover to production.
- Prepare and review product costing covering materials, labour, packaging and overheads.
- Coordinate with production planning and factory teams for timely delivery and bottleneck resolution.
- Coordinate with suppliers for fabrics, trims, components and other materials.
- Work with QA/QC to ensure samples meet specifications and safety standards.
- Lead, mentor and manage the merchandising team; allocate customers and monitor performance.
- Establish timelines for development, approvals, procurement, production, inspection and dispatch.
- Coordinate with sales, design, purchase, production, quality, logistics and senior management.
- Monitor costs, price changes and margins; identify opportunities for cost optimization.
- Track market trends and identify new product opportunities for future collections.
- Own buyer complaints, quality issues and delays; coordinate corrective actions.
- Prepare regular MIS reports on order status, sample approvals, production and delivery.
Skills
Tools
Job description
Manage merchandising for lampshades, table/floor/pendant lighting and home dcor products. Understand trends, materials, finishes, colours and construction techniques. Develop products according to customer and market requirements.
Serve as the primary merchandising contact for customers and buyers. Understand buyer briefs, communicate professionally, respond to queries and maintain strong long-term relationships.
Coordinate new product development, prototypes, samples and pre-production approvals. Ensure products meet customer specifications, aesthetics, functionality and commercial requirements.
Manage the complete order lifecycle from enquiry/PO through development, sampling, approvals & handover to production.
Prepare and review accurate product costing covering materials, components, labour, packaging and overheads. Work with management to achieve target margins and support price negotiations.
Closely coordinate with production, planning and factory teams to ensure smooth execution of orders and timely delivery. Identify production bottlenecks and resolve issues proactively.
Coordinate with purchase and suppliers for fabrics, trims, electrical components, metals, glass, wood, ceramics, plastics, packaging and other materials required for the product range.
Work with QA/QC to ensure products match approved samples and specifications. For lighting products, ensure appropriate attention to electrical components, safety requirements, testing, packaging and customer-specific compliance standards.
Lead, mentor and manage the merchandising team. Allocate customers/orders, establish priorities, monitor performance, conduct reviews and develop team capabilities.
Establish and monitor timelines covering product development, sample approval, material procurement, production, inspection and dispatch. Ensure on-time and in-full delivery.
Coordinate effectively with sales, design, purchase, production, quality, logistics, finance and senior management to ensure seamless execution of customer orders.
Monitor product costs, price changes, wastage and margins. Identify opportunities for cost optimization without compromising product quality or customer expectations.
Track international and domestic trends in lighting, lampshades and home dcor. Identify new materials, finishes, designs and product opportunities for future collections.
Take ownership of buyer complaints, quality issues, delays and product-development challenges. Coordinate corrective actions and ensure timely closure.
Prepare regular reports on order status, sample approvals, product development, production, shipment, pending actions, delays, customer issues and team performance.
Establish systematic merchandising processes, documentation and tracking systems to improve efficiency, reduce errors and improve delivery performance.
- 15+ years of relevant merchandising experience.
- Experience in lighting, lampshades, home dcor, decorative accessories or a closely related manufacturing/export company.
- Strong experience in product development and sampling.
- Experience handling international/domestic buyers and customer communication.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong understanding of materials, components, finishes, production processes and product costing.
- Experience coordinating with factory, production, purchase and quality teams.
- Proven ability to lead and manage a merchandising team.
- Strong understanding of order execution and critical-path management.
- Ability to manage multiple customers and product categories simultaneously.
- Strong negotiation, analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Good knowledge of Excel, MIS and ERP systems.
- Strong ownership of on-time delivery, quality and customer satisfaction.
- Ability to work independently and make decisions under pressure.
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