Director of Apparel and Accessories Merchandising

As Director of Apparel and Accessories Merchandising you will be responsible for ensuring the right products go to the right channels, tiers and accounts and to the right doors, with the best timing and price, to optimize our brand vision, the selling and profitability. You will secure the assortment across apparel and accessories, linked to footwear, developing and implementing our global brand strategy, by gaining customer insights from working closely with our DTC, regional sales & merch teams. You will provide feedback and analysis to influence our range going forward and will be a leader in forecasting and utilizing new tools for data analysis and turning your findings into short term actions and long-term strategies.

Collaboration is key in this role, as you will need to bring cross-functional teams together to successfully execute the premiumization of the category across regions and channels.

A data-driven mindset is also essential, enabling you to combine quantitative insights with strategic vision to drive impactful decisions across the product lifecycle.

Your mission

• Define and execute global Apparel and Accessories merchandising strategies across all DTC and Wholesale channels in a hypergrowth environment, while balancing brand equity, commercial goals, and consumer behavior across a global stage.
• Build and lead a high-performing team of global merchandisers, fostering a culture of consumer obsession, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Define global channel assortments including Core Assortments, commercial product pushes, considering price points, tiering, channel with a focus on the target consumer and community.
• Secure impact in stores and online by creating the best monthly product flow considering product seasonality, carry-overs and newness.
• Lead merchandise financial planning in partnership with Planning and Finance teams, driving SKU efficiency, optimized inventory management, and category growth across all regions.
• Responsible for the collection pricing architecture and optimizing the effect of full price sales through competitor price mapping and price adjustments with our pricing team.
• Collaborate with the Commercial Leaders, Marketing and Creative teams to ensure cohesive seasonal storytelling and execution across all consumer touchpoints.
• Work with VM to drive product assortment strategies into our DTC and wholesale SIS building inspiring and commercial solutions.
• Actively partner with Footwear merchandising to deliver a holistic head-to-toe consumer experience, aligning assortments and seasonal stories across categories.
• Partner closely Product Strategy to influence upstream product creation, ensuring the commercial voice is reflected in the global line architecture.
• Serve as a key partner to regional merchandising leads, ensuring global consistency while empowering regional relevance in assortment and channel strategy.
• Leverage consumer insights, sell-through data, and market trends to continuously refine assortments, pricing, and product positioning.
• Drive the evolution of global merchandising tools, processes, and reporting to enable efficient and insight-led decision-making across teams.

Your story

• 10+ years of merchandising experience with a strong focus on premium sports and or fashion / luxury.
• Minimum 5+ years experience in apparel merchandising in international regions such as EMEA, North America and Asia-Pacific
• You possess a profound knowledge of the apparel and sportswear industry, including relevant accounts and consumer profiles - experience in DTC brands is a plus. Higher education degree in business, economics or similar.
• You have experience leading premiumization efforts—shaping pricing, distribution, and storytelling to elevate the perception and performance of a product category.
• You are fluent in using data platforms and analytics to drive decision-making and are passionate about evolving the merchandising function through digital tools, automation, and scenario planning.
• You have a strong track record of business results from your previous roles preferably within Merchandising, Retail, Product Management and Business Analytics.
• Experienced people manager who will inspire the merchandising and greater On team to build and support On’s footwear vision.
• You are experienced in developing distribution strategy on a global level, whilst keeping regional consumers, accounts and sales teams front of mind.Strong understanding of Visual Merchandising and the taste level to make inspiring assortments.
• Ability to analyze and understand retail math and KPI’s across multiple channels (own retail, wholesale, ecommerce).
• You have solid leadership experience, and are able to drive new concepts into the organization. As such, you are a strong collaborator, communicator and presenter in front of diverse internal and external audiences.
• Business fluency in English, both written and spoken. Any other language would be a plus.

Meet the team

As you might expect from the fastest-growing sportswear brand, the commercial team at On is a unique place to be. It’s a newly forming team that requires the explorer spirit to build some of it new and also bring the right existing pieces together. This team of entrepreneurs is used to dynamic turnaround times and ambitious targets. The shared mission? Ignite the human spirit through movement.

What we offer

On is a place that is centered around growth and progress. We offer an environment designed to give people the tools to develop holistically – to stay active, to learn, explore and innovate. Our distinctive approach combines a supportive, team-oriented atmosphere, with access to personal self-care for both physical and mental well-being, so each person is led by purpose.

On is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a work environment that is fair and inclusive, where all decisions related to recruitment, advancement, and retention are free of discrimination.