Merchandiser

The role

We're looking for a permanent, full time merchandiser who can own our product from the range plan, then read what sold, what came back and why, and use these insights to shape the next collection. You’ll be based on site in our creative, buzzing London studio and you’ll work closely with our founders, the design and digital teams, as well as brand and content and customer services.

Why now?

We've grown quickly over the past few years, and our range planning needs to catch up. We want every piece to have a clear purpose, price and customer before it reaches a fitting, and we want you to use what you learn from our sales and returns reports to shape the ranges to come. Our new merchandiser will use commercial discipline and structure to shape the daily design decisions we’re making in the studio.

About us

“Rat & Boa began somewhere between the beaches of Thailand and the streets of London. The energy of our liberated, hedonistic 20s quickly became the blueprint for the brand: freedom, contradiction and unapologetic self-expression.

First and foremost, we design for each other and the women we love, creating pieces from our atelier that capture the hedonism of a never-ending summer.”

Valentina & Stephanie, creative directors and co-owners

Brand Vision

Designed for those who live boldly, Rat & Boa evokes a spirit of adventure, sensuality and duality. Each piece reflects our commitment to style that’s both timeless and fresh, made for hedonistic women who make their own rules.

Requirements

Range planning

• You’ll build the range plan for each drop by category, price tier (entry, good, better, best) and fabrication, reconciled to our sales and inventory planning tools.
• You’ll balance carryovers against newness and set buy depth and open to buy by category and drop.
• You’ll run range gates for new styles, so each one has a planned lifespan, a margin threshold, a validated RRP and a clear purpose before it goes to fit.
• You’ll lead drop by drop range reviews and give a clear product read in fittings: whether a sample still meets the brief on price, category and fit.

Trading and stock

• You’ll own the WSSI and the weekly trade read: planned against actual, what to push and what to mark down.
• You’ll set reorder timing and depth in season against the demand forecast, working to long lead times.
• You’ll own the stock sheet and the plans for it: phase out, markdown, liquidation and sample sale.
• You’ll plan the trade marketing calendar with Brand & Content, so the right product is pushed for each moment.

Performance and insight

• You’ll report sell-through, return rate and margin by style, and run wash-ups after every drop and every season, reporting findings back to the relevant team members.
• You’ll review return reasons with the digital and customer service teams and turn them into range, fit and product information actions.
• You’ll build the evidence for new categories: what to enter, in what order, with lead times and financials, for the founders to decide.
• You’ll own the spreadsheets and admin behind the buy.

Who we're looking for

Below are the skills we consider to be essential for success in this role, as well as the nice to have. Even if you don’t tick every single box but feel like Rat & Boa could be the right place for you to work, we’d love to hear from you. Please note ready to wear experience is an essential, and accessories experience is a plus.

Essential

• Merchandising or buying experience in womenswear ready-to-wear, ideally at a DTC brand working to a multi drop calendar.
• A strong product eye: you can read product like a buyer and can advocate for your opinions in a fitting, backed by data.
• Experience shaping a range from sales and returns data, not just reporting on it.
• Has run a WSSI and placed in-season reorders against a forecast.
• Confident with data and planning tools, and comfortable building or improving them.
• Treats returns as a commercial lever.
• Self directed, organised, and able to build processes where none exists yet.

Nice to have

• Accessories experience.
• Experience with Shopify, Polar or Inventory Planner.
• Experience across accessible entry prices as well as premium.

Benefits

• 30 days annual leave + bank holidays and an additional 0.5 on Christmas eve and New years eve.
• Medicash Plan
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Pension Scheme
• Enhanced Sick Pay
• Enhanced Parental Pay