Head of Assortment and Space Planning

Dis-Chem Pharmacies; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Job summary

Dis-Chem Pharmacies seeks a Head of Assortment and Space Planning to lead the assortment strategy and store space allocation across all stores. Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, you will ensure decisions optimise sales, margin, customer experience and operational efficiency, while overseeing the Assortment and Space Planning team.

You will define and lead strategies, own space allocation principles, and align plans with commercial priorities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Retail Management, Business, or a related field.
• 5–7 years’ experience in assortment planning, space planning, or retail merchandising roles.
• Proven management experience leading teams and delivering assortment and space initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the assortment and space planning strategy across all DisChem store formats.
• Own macro and micro space allocation principles to optimise sales productivity, customer flow, and category performance.
• Ensure assortment and space decisions support commercial, category, and retail execution priorities.
• Lead and develop the Assortment and Space team, setting clear standards and priorities.
• Partner with Category, Commercial Intelligence and Retail Operations to align plans.
• Work cross-functionally to leverage insights while maintaining ownership of retail execution.
• Establish governance frameworks for assortment decisions, space changes, and store layout standards.
• Ensure consistency and compliance of space plans across new stores, revamps, and existing locations.
• Identify and manage risks related to space constraints, execution complexity, and operational feasibility.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Analytical capability

Retail store layouts

Customer behaviour

Commercial balance

Operational practicality

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Retail Management, Business, or related field

Job description

The Head of Assortment and Space Planning leads assortment strategy and store space allocation across all Dis-Chem stores. Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, the role ensures that assortment and space decisions optimise sales and margin performance, customer experience, and operational efficiency, while overseeing the Assortment and Space Planning team.

Minimum Requirements…

• Bachelor’s degree in Retail Management, Business, or a related field OR
• 5-7 years’ experience in assortment planning, space planning, or retail merchandising roles.
• Proven management experience leading teams and delivering assortment and space initiatives.

Advantageous:

• N/A

Job Specification…

Strategy and value delivery

• Define and lead the assortment and space planning strategy across all DisChem store formats.
• Own macro and micro space allocation principles to optimise sales productivity, customer flow, and category performance.
• Ensure assortment and space decisions support commercial, category, and retail execution priorities.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead and develop the Assortment and Space team, setting clear standards and Priorities.
• Partner with Category, Commercial Intelligence and Retail Operations to align plans.
• Work cross-functionally to leverage insights while maintaining clear ownership of retail execution.

Governance & Risk

• Establish governance frameworks for assortment decisions, space changes, and store layout standards.
• Ensure consistency and compliance of space plans across new stores, revamps, and existing locations.
• Identify and manage risks related to space constraints, execution complexity, and operational feasibility.

Key Competencies

• Strong strategic and analytical capability in assortment and space planning.
• Deep understanding of retail store layouts, category adjacencies, and customer shopping behaviour.
• Ability to balance commercial performance, customer experience, and operational Practicality.

Special conditions of employment:

Key performance indicators:

• Assortment and space productivity - Sales per square metre, sales per SKU, and space efficiency.
• Execution quality - Compliance with approved space plans and planogram standards.
• Strategic alignment - Alignment of assortment and space decisions with category and retail priorities.
• Improvement in team culture score.