Lead Merchandiser, Apparel - APAC

Columbia Sportswear; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Columbia Sportswear seeks a Lead APAC Apparel Merchandiser to connect APAC consumer insights with Global Product Creation. You will influence Global teams and partner with APAC markets (China, SK, Japan) to shape seasonal framework and opportunities.

You will drive collaboration across Product, Planning, Sales, and Marketing, ensuring regional needs inform global strategies and initiatives. International travel may be required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of apparel merchandising experience within sportswear, outdoor, or action sports industries.
• Demonstrated merchandising experience within the Asia Pacific region, with direct experience working across China, South Korea, and Japan.
• Strong understanding of APAC consumer behavior, retail dynamics, competitive landscapes, and market differences.
• Strong expertise in apparel merchandising, assortment analysis, sell-through analysis, pricing, and SKU productivity.
• Proven ability to translate consumer, marketplace, and business insights into actionable product recommendations.
• Experience working across regional and Global organizations and influencing stakeholders across different functions, markets, and cultures.
• Strong business management capabilities with demonstrated financial and analytical acumen.
• Ability to travel internationally as required.

Responsibilities

• Partner with APAC merchandising teams to identify regional commonalities, market-specific needs, assortment gaps and growth opportunities.
• Synthesize consumer insights, marketplace trends, competitive intelligence, and business performance across APAC to influence Global Product Creation and seasonal line planning.
• Identify new product opportunities and ensure APAC needs are represented in the Global seasonal framework.
• Partner with country merchandising leaders to align Global product strategies with regional realities.
• Support APAC-specific product creation initiatives and regional exclusives with clear commercial justification.
• Use sell-through, bookings, margin, SKU productivity, forecasting to identify opportunities and inform decisions.
• Support the seasonal Go-To-Market process across APAC with accurate execution of key merchandising deliverables.
• Represent APAC Apparel during key seasonal meetings and product checkpoints to consolidate APAC perspectives into a regional view.
• Collaborate with Product, Planning, Sales, and Marketing to connect seasonal direction with marketplace needs.
• Help determine where regional commonalities create scale and where market-specific solutions are required.

Skills

APAC merchandising

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Merchandising, or related field

Job description

This position is designated as a hybrid role based out of our headquarters near Portland, Oregon. The current expectation is for employees to work onsite four days per week, subject to change based on business needs. This in-office requirement may be adjusted at the discretion of the company.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Lead APAC Apparel Merchandiser serves as a strategic, cross-functional regional merchandising leader responsible for connecting the needs of China, South Korea, and Japan with Global Product Creation. This role partners closely with APAC country merchandising teams to identify regional commonalities, market-specific needs, emerging trends, and growth opportunities, translating these insights into clear and actionable direction for Global teams.

With Columbia's deep-rooted presence and ambitious growth plans across China, South Korea, and Japan, deep merchandising experience within the APAC region is essential. The Lead APAC Apparel Merchandiser plays a pivotal role in shaping the seasonal framework for Global Product Creation, ensuring APAC consumer insights, market dynamics, and business opportunities are represented in future product direction.

The role serves as a critical two-way connection between Global and APAC markets - influencing Global teams to address regional opportunities while partnering with China, South Korea, and Japan to drive alignment around Global strategies and initiatives.

HOW YOU'LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• Partner with China, South Korea, and Japan merchandising teams to identify regional commonalities, market-specific needs, assortment gaps, and emerging growth opportunities.
• Synthesize consumer insights, marketplace trends, competitive intelligence, and business performance across APAC to influence Global Product Creation and seasonal line planning.
• Identify new product opportunities and ensure relevant APAC consumer and marketplace needs are represented in the Global seasonal framework.
• Partner with country merchandising leaders to build understanding and alignment around Global product strategies and initiatives, connecting Global direction with regional marketplace realities.
• Support APAC-specific product creation initiatives and regional exclusives, ensuring opportunities are grounded in consumer needs, business potential, and clear commercial justification.
• Use sell-through, bookings, margin, SKU productivity, forecasting, and other business analytics to identify opportunities and support fact-based decision-making.
• Support the seasonal Go-To-Market process across APAC, ensuring accurate and complete execution of key merchandising deliverables and milestones.
• Represent APAC Apparel during key seasonal meetings and product checkpoints, consolidating perspectives across China, South Korea, and Japan into a clear regional point of view.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Planning, Sales, and Marketing to connect seasonal product direction with marketplace needs.
• Help determine where regional commonalities can create greater scale and where market-specific product solutions are required.

YOU ARE

• A seasoned merchant with deep experience across the Asia Pacific region and a strong understanding of its diverse consumers, markets, and retail landscapes.
• A strong connector who can bring together different market perspectives and turn them into a clear regional point of view.
• A strategic influencer who can advocate for APAC needs with Global stakeholders while building regional alignment around broader Global strategies and initiatives.
• A product-focused merchant who connects consumer insights, market dynamics, and business performance to identify future product opportunities.
• Commercially driven with strong analytical and financial acumen.
• Comfortable operating at both a strategic and executional level - able to influence future product direction while managing seasonal execution with precision.
• A collaborative partner who builds strong relationships across functions, markets, and cultures.
• An effective communicator and storyteller capable of influencing stakeholders without direct authority.

YOU HAVE

• 8+ years of apparel merchandising experience within the sportswear, outdoor, or action sports industries.
• Demonstrated merchandising experience within the Asia Pacific region, with direct experience working across China, South Korea, and/or Japan required.
• Strong understanding of APAC consumer behavior, retail dynamics, competitive landscapes, and market differences.
• Strong expertise in apparel merchandising, assortment analysis, sell-through analysis, pricing, and SKU productivity.
• Proven ability to translate consumer, marketplace, and business insights into actionable product recommendations.
• Experience working across regional and Global organizations and influencing stakeholders across different functions, markets, and cultures.
• Strong business management capabilities with demonstrated financial and analytical acumen.
• Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• A bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Merchandising, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Ability to travel internationally as required.

#Hybrid

#LI-LC1

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.

Columbia Sportswear Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf. At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding. Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community. Benefits that can protect your family's financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match. Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services). In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.