Director of Product / VP

Job Responsibilities

If you want to know about the requirements for this role, read on for all the relevant information.

1. As the Head of European Product Design Centre, oversee the overall product strategy for UR's European & American product portfolio, taking charge of five core functions: Merchandising, Design, Buying, Pattern Making and Production.
2. Formulate merchandise strategy, define product DNA, category architecture, price tiers and merchandise differentiation strategies for regional markets.
3. Oversee the end-to-end merchandise closed loop: Design → Buy → Launch → Track → React → Review, to enable Fast Reaction capabilities.
4. Lead merchandise planning and OTB (Open-to-Buy) governance for Europe & Americas, and be accountable for key KPIs including inventory turnover, gross margin, sell-through rate and hit rate of bestsellers.
5. Drive systematic upgrades in pattern development, production and fabric trend research, and build a global supply chain network.
6. Liaise with logistics teams to ensure efficient fulfilment from production facilities to global physical stores and e-commerce channels.
7. Lead organisational development of the product division, attract and cultivate international product talents.
8. Participate in group strategic decision-making, acting as the core strategic advisor on product and merchandising matters.

Job Requirements

1. Minimum 15 years of experience in product, merchandising or buying within apparel / fast fashion industry; at least 5 years of experience at CPO / VP Product or Group Head of Product level.
2. Prior experience as global product lead at international fast fashion brand is preferred.
3. Proven capability to manage the full fast fashion merchandise value chain (Design – Buying – Pattern Making – Production – Logistics).
4. Experience building cross-border product systems from scratch, with familiarity in China-Europe / China-US design collaboration models.
5. Strong commercial acumen, with in-depth understanding of consumer aesthetics, pricing and category structures across regional markets.
6. Cross-cultural leadership skills to manage multicultural design and buying teams spanning China, Europe and the US.
7. Business fluent or native-level English; Chinese language proficiency is a bonus. xwzovoh
8. Based in London on a permanent basis, and available for frequent cross-border business travel.