In-Season Trader - Sports Brands

In-Season Trader  Role Purpose: To drive and optimise in-season trading performance across banners and countries by aligning sales, stock, and assortment decisions with real-time data insights. The role acts as the central trading link between Buying, Planning, VM, Logistics, and Retail Operations to maximise sell-through, ensure optimal product availability, and improve profitability through effective inventory management, allocation, and cross-functional collaboration. What you will do: Building an In-Season Trading community - Act as the key point of contact for trading across multiple departments, including buying, planning, marketing, logistics, and retail operations. - Drive collaboration and ensure that trading strategies are integrated into broader business objectives.  - Assist the Planning Manager to test and scale new tools/WoW across different banners. - Stay updated with industry best practices, new technologies, and trading methodologies. - Continuously identify opportunities to improve trading processes, tools, and systems for more efficient and effective trading operations.      - Drive cross-functional projects aimed at improving processes and delivering improved business outcomes. - Develop and lead the in-season trading strategy for the assigned banners, ensuring that the strategy aligns with the company’s business goals. Sales and Inventory Strategy - Oversee sales performance and inventory management across multiple banners/countries, ensuring optimal stock levels and maximising profitability Inventory Management: - Work closely with the buying and planning teams to ensure optimal inventory levels across stores - Make recommendations for markdowns to optimize stock levels and minimize stockouts or excess inventory - Work on new replenishment tools to ensure accurate stock allocation and replenishment across countries Assortment Optimisation - Collaborate with the buying and planning teams to analyse the performance of individual products and categories - Recommend assortment adjustments, product substitutions, or exit strategies to optimize sales and meet customer demand  Manage Inventory Intake - Work closely with Supply chain administration, to monitor & manage inventory intake from Suppliers   - Collaborate with logistics to ensure timely product delivery and stock availability Advanced Reporting and Insights - Lead the preparation of detailed reports for senior managers, providing actionable insights and long-term recommendations based on sales, stock, and profitability analysis.   - Analyse sales data, customer insights, and product performance metrics to provide actionable recommendations for assortment adjustments and promotional activities. - Implements inter-store transfers and Never Out of Stock (NOS) coverage tracking. How you will be measured: Business Targets - Allocation accuracy (based on store grading/profiles) - Inter-store transfer effectiveness (volume moved vs sell-through impact) - Weeks of stock by store/channel/category - Sell-through uplift from reallocations - Product availability (minimize out-of-stocks / overstocks) - Coverage of NOS lines Stakeholder Engagement  - Effective collaboration with Visual Merchandisers to ensure VM strategies are effectively rolled out in each store in a timely manner. - Effective collaboration with Buyers and Planners to ensure accuracy of OTB. Competencies required: - Strategic planning - Analytical mindset - Problem solving skills - Self-motivated - Strong collaboration skills / Team player - Effective communication skills - Business acumen What you will bring to the role: - Degree/Diploma in business administrator or engineering is a plus.  - Previous experience (1-2 years) in a trading, merchandising, or inventory management role. - Ability to interpret data and trends. - Proficiency in planning and inventory management systems. Knowledge of pricing tools and analytics software is a plus. - Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.  - Familiarity with retail planning, product lifecycle, and fashion retail processes is a plus.  - Valid Maltese Drivers License