Director of Buying & Merchandising

Location: New York (Hybrid)

Salary: Up to $220,000 + Bonus + Benefits + superb career prospects

KGC Talent is exclusively partnering with a tech-driven, digital-first eCommerce platform operating across multiple premium/luxury consumer categories, including accessories, home, lifestyle, and gifting. This multi-brand business is design-led, highly curated, and entering an exciting launch-to-scale phase with ambitious international growth plans.

This is a senior leadership opportunity for a product-obsessed, commercially astute Director of Buying & Merchandising to sit at the intersection of product strategy, brand curation, and commercial trading. The role offers ownership over category/product assortment, brand direction, and trading performance. As Director of Buying & Merchandising you will be hands-on and strategic, leading the end-to-end product strategy, combining strong analytical capability with a refined creative eye. You will shape a compelling, brand-aligned assortment, brokering successful commercial partnerships and collaborations in combination with driving and overseeing drop-ship strategies. Your focus will be commercial performance of carefully curated products, category & product assortment, margin optimisation, and customer experience within a digital-first, tech-led environment.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Assortment

Own seasonal and long-term Buying & Merchandising strategies across all categories.
Build and execute global assortment strategies aligned to brand positioning and category growth.
Drive product selection through brand partnerships, collaborations, and drop-ship models.
Partner closely with Site Merchandising to monitor and optimise product performance.

Trading & Commercial Performance

Lead category performance, trading cadence, and margin optimisation.
Use data-led insight and commercial intuition to drive in-season decision making.
Optimise the end-to-end customer journey in partnership with Technology and Digital teams.

Brand & Creative Direction

Influence visual identity and creative execution across website, UX, product presentation, and storytelling.
Partner with Marketing on campaigns, homepage updates, email content, and product narratives.
Assist in coordinating content and storytelling to ensure consistent, premium brand presentation in conjunction with Marketing.

Market & Customer Insight

Own market, trend, and competitor analysis to inform product and trading strategy.
Act as the internal authority on customer behaviour, product direction, and market opportunity across categories and for the brand.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Collaborate with Design, Marketing, Digital, Technology, Operation steams.
Partner with Technology and Digital Experience leaders on platform and experience development.
Champion pace, collaboration, and innovation across the business.

Inventory & Supply Chain

Curate a premium, multi-brand assortment through selective brand partnerships, collaborations, and a flexible drop-ship model aligned to brand positioning.ssortment through selective brand partnerships, collaborations, and a flexible drop-ship
Work closely with partners and suppliers to ensure stock flow, availability, and profitability.

Team Leadership

Build, scale, mentor, and inspire a high-performing Buying & Merchandising team.
Foster a culture of accountability, creativity, and commercial excellence.

About You

Proven senior experience in Buying and Merchandising, ideally currently in a hybrid leadership role bridging both Buying & Merchandising.
Background in premium, multi-brand, digital-first consumer categories (lifestyle, accessories, home, gifting, or tech-adjacent products.
Strong commercial acumen with deep understanding of trading, inventory, and supplier partnerships.
International experience across the US and EMEA essential.
Confident creative sensibility with the ability to influence brand and product presentation.
Inspirational people leader with a collaborative mindset.

Why Apply?

This is a rare opportunity to shape the product vision and commercial engine of a fast-scaling, tech-enabled eCommerce platform. You’ll play a pivotal role in defining global assortment strategy, influencing brand identity, and driving international growth at a critical stage of expansion. This is an hands-on and strategic role, a rare opportunity to join a dynamic business at a hugely exciting time.

Please send your CV and we will be in touch to discuss further.

You must have the right to live and work in New York.

Director of Buying & Merchandising - Tech-Driven Ecommerce platform - Premium/Luxury Brands/Consumer Categories