About the role
An exciting place to be for our business, Asia Pacific is our largest area of international growth - across all of our sales channels. And this is where you're needed, right at the heart of all we're doing here. In this brand new role, and as part of the region's senior management team, you'll shape, develop and lead the way we carry out our buying and merchandising across Asia Pacific. You'll use all your know-how to create a clear insight into consumer lifestyles. You'll identify the best possible products to meet the footwear needs of our customers here. With five Asia Pacific market hubs, you'll define a multi-channel product portfolio for each area. Providing leadership and strategic direction, you'll work cross-functionally with everyone from designers and developers to marketing and finance departments. And because our ranges change seasonally, we'll look to you to influence our product range, making sure they maximise our reach and market potential. An inspiring leader, you'll build on your multi-national team's experience and expertise, developing best practices, standards and processes, and promoting consistency.
We want you to bring vision, insight and structure to buying and merchandising in the Asia Pacific region, increasing sales and, ultimately, delivering profitable growth. Naturally, you'll be travelling to Asia Pacific four or five times a year. There's also the opportunity to be permanently based in the country two or three years into the role.
About you
An expert in product strategy, you're a creative thinker - with extensive experience of buying for global consumer brands, ideally in the fast-moving world of fashion or footwear. With a proven track record in range building based on consumer insight, you've an impressive understanding of consumer needs, and you're fantastically quick to interpret and act on market intelligence. Ambitious, driven and focused, you understand the challenges ahead, but can't wait to get stuck in. A confident, credible and people-oriented leader, you inspire those around you with your can-do attitude and have second to none communication skills.
About us
With a rich history and an exciting future, Clarks is one of Britain's greatest iconic brands. An international success story and a brand with a strong set of values, we design, innovate, source and sell more than 50 million pairs of shoes every year, all across the globe. While we're already a £1.4 billion business, operating in more than 35 countries, with over 14,000 people worldwide, we have bold international growth plans in place. By putting consumers first, by encouraging and empowering our people, we'll be the leading global footwear brand and, by 2015, we want to have doubled our turnover and profitability.
Our bold plans are the vision of Melissa Potter, our new Chief Executive, and her leadership team. It's a vision that in 2010/2011 saw us break the £100 million profit mark for the first time ever - an achievement that caps ten consecutive years of growth. But we're ambitious for more, determined to take the Clarks brand to new markets and new consumers.
To find out more about this fantastic opportunity, and to apply online,
Closing date: 25th June 2012.
An equal opportunities employer.
