Lilac Street Limited is a recruitment agency currently supporting a UK womenswear brand in their search for a Partnership Manager.
This is an exciting opportunity for an established merchandiser to lead a team of two in a pivotal role.
Key Responsibilities:
* Develop and maintain strategic partnerships across wholesale and consignment partners to drive brand growth on external platforms.
* Conduct market research to identify and assess potential partnership opportunities.
* Negotiate agreements that are both legally compliant and financially advantageous for the brand.
* Foster strong relationships with existing partners, effectively managing stock, identifying new product opportunities, and optimising inventory across full-price, promotional, and markdown phases.
* Accurately budget for sales, stock, and margins, with detailed quarterly and weekly planning at the departmental level.
* Support partner selection meetings, helping determine product options, investment levels, and sizing while overseeing the preparation of lookbooks with cost pricing.
* Manage partner setup processes, ensuring accurate product data, imagery, descriptions, attributes, and copy are uploaded to optimise online presence.
* Oversee purchase orders (POs), tracking intake and communicating any changes in quantities or delivery schedules to partners.
* Monitor in-season trading performance, updating WSSI reports and analyzing sales and shipments to mitigate risks and identify growth opportunities.
* Collaborate with the warehouse team to ensure timely inbound and outbound stock movement.
* Work closely with the Finance team to resolve invoice and freight queries while reconciling monthly figures with Management Accounts.
* Track and report key performance indicators (KPIs) for each partner, providing insights to relevant stakeholders.
* Partner with internal buying, design, and merchandising teams to align partner objectives with the brand’s strategy, ensuring optimised product selection and stock levels.
Key Skills & Experience:
* Strong communication skills, acting as the primary brand representative for external partners while effectively engaging across internal teams.
* Skilled negotiator with experience securing favourable partner terms and conditions.
* Project management expertise, from onboarding new partners to managing stock and trading once live.
* Proficiency in Excel and data analysis.
* Effective leadership and people management, overseeing two direct reports.
* Experience working with key retail partners such as M&S, Next, Very, ASOS, and international distributors is highly desirable.
This role reports to the Chief Commercial Officer.
Partnership Manager, South West London, £60,000 + bonus + benefits