Role Purpose
The Head of Commercial is responsible for leading the company's customer-facing organization and ensuring the successful execution of every client program from initial inquiry through production handover.
This role owns all commercial activities, including customer relationship management, merchandising, sample development, product innovation, design coordination, and commercial costing. Acting as the primary commercial leader of the business, the Head of Commercial ensures exceptional customer service, timely sample development, accurate costing, clear communication, and world-class execution for global fashion and luxury brand partners.
As one of the senior leaders of the organization, this individual serves as the public face of the company alongside the CEO, representing the business in customer meetings, business development opportunities, factory visits, and strategic partnerships.
Organizational Responsibility
The Head of Commercial will lead and oversee:
● Merchandising Department
○ General Manager – Merchandising
○ All Merchandisers
● Sample Room
○ Sample Room Head
○ Pattern Makers
○ Designers
○ Tailors
○ Sample Coordinators
● Leather R&D / Sampling Department
○ Leather R&D & Sampling Head
○ Leather Development Team
● In-House Design Team
Key ResponsibilitiesCommercial Leadership
● Own all customer-facing commercial operations.
● Build and maintain long-term relationships with global apparel and luxury brand customers.
● Serve as the senior escalation point for customer issues and commercial decisions.
● Represent the company during customer visits, presentations, trade shows, and strategic meetings.
● Partner with the CEO on major customer relationships and business development initiatives.
Customer Relationship Management
● Develop trusted relationships with key customer stakeholders.
● Ensure exceptional responsiveness and service levels.
● Drive customer satisfaction and long-term account growth.
● Identify opportunities to expand business within existing accounts.
● Support negotiations on commercial terms where required.
Merchandising Leadership
Provide leadership to the merchandising organization by ensuring:
● Customer requests are managed efficiently.
● Development timelines are met.
● BOMs and specifications are accurate.
● Pre-production activities remain on schedule.
● Internal coordination across departments is seamless.
● Merchant workloads are balanced and priorities are clearly communicated.
Review departmental workload and resource allocation to maintain high levels of execution.
Sample Development Management
Own the company's sample development process from customer request through dispatch.
Ensure:
● Samples are developed according to customer expectations.
● Internal milestones are achieved.
● Priorities are communicated across teams.
● Bottlenecks are identified and resolved early.
● Sampling capacity is optimized across customers and seasons.
● High-priority samples are reviewed and approved before dispatch when appropriate.
Commercial Costing & Pricing
Own the commercial costing process by ensuring all quotations are accurate, competitive, and aligned with the company's profitability objectives.
Responsibilities include:
● Review and challenge all product costings and costing drafts prepared by the Merchandising team before submission.
● Validate BOMs, material consumption, labor assumptions, overhead allocations, and commercial assumptions in collaboration with Product, Production, and Finance.
● Ensure costing methodologies are standardized and consistently applied across customers.
● Recommend pricing strategies that balance customer competitiveness with target margins.
● Coordinate final pricing and costing approvals with the CEO in accordance with the company's commercial approval matrix.
● Ensure approved quotations are communicated promptly to customers and internal teams.
● Continuously improve costing accuracy through post-order reviews and variance analysis.
Product Development & Innovation
Partner closely with the Leather R&D and Design teams to:
● Translate customer concepts into manufacturable products.
● Introduce new leather finishes, constructions, and design ideas.
● Improve product quality and manufacturability.
● Drive innovation aligned with market trends and customer expectations.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Work closely with:
● Product
● Production
● Planning
● Quality
● Finance
● Supply Chain
Ensure all commercial commitments are realistic, achievable, and communicated effectively across the organization.
Forecasting & Development Planning
● Maintain visibility over all active developments.
● Forecast sample volumes and seasonal workload.
● Allocate resources proactively.
● Ensure development schedules align with factory capacity.
● Implement systems to monitor project status, risks, and customer commitments.
● Lead weekly commercial pipeline and sample review meetings.
Quality & Commercial Governance
● Review high-priority samples before customer submission.
● Ensure presentations reflect the company's quality standards.
● Maintain consistency in customer communication, documentation, and presentation standards.
● Monitor commercial KPIs and drive corrective actions where required.
● Establish dashboards tracking sample progress, customer responsiveness, costing status, and development milestones.
Team Leadership
Develop a high-performing commercial organization by:
● Setting departmental KPIs.
● Coaching and mentoring department heads and team leaders.
● Conducting regular performance reviews.
● Building succession plans for key commercial roles.
● Promoting accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Customer
● Customer satisfaction score
● Customer retention rate
● Growth in existing customer business
● Response time to customer requests
● Customer escalation rate
Sampling & Development
● Sample on-time delivery (%)
● First-pass sample approval rate
● Development lead time
● Sample backlog
● On-time completion of development milestones
Commercial & Costing
● Costing accuracy (% variance vs. actual production cost)
● Quote turnaround time
● Gross margin achievement
● Quote approval cycle time
● Commercial forecast accuracy
● Win rate on customer quotations
Operations
● Merchandising productivity
● Cross-functional milestone adherence
● On-time pre-production completion
● Internal stakeholder satisfaction
Leadership
● Department KPI achievement
● Employee engagement
● Team retention
● Cross-functional collaboration effectiveness
Qualifications
● Bachelor's degree in Fashion, Textile, Leather Technology, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
● MBA or postgraduate qualification preferred.
● 12–18 years of experience in leather garments, apparel exports, fashion manufacturing, or luxury goods.
● Demonstrated experience leading merchandising and product development teams.
● Experience managing relationships with leading international fashion or luxury brands.
● Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance customer expectations and operational realities.
● Excellent written and spoken English with outstanding presentation and negotiation skills.
● Proven ability to manage multiple customer programs, development calendars, and commercial priorities simultaneously.
Preferred Experience
● Experience working with European and North American luxury brands.
● Strong understanding of leather garment construction, costing, manufacturing, and product development.
● Experience managing customer visits, factory audits, and executive business reviews.
● Exposure to ERP, PLM, and project management systems.
● Experience implementing commercial dashboards, forecasting systems, and KPI-driven management.
Key Competencies
● Executive presence
● Customer relationship management
● Commercial negotiation
● Costing and pricing management
● Leadership & people development
● Strategic thinking
● Project and program management
● Product development
● Sample planning and forecasting
● Organizational excellence
● Communication & presentation skills
● Cross-functional collaboration
● Decision-making under pressure
● Attention to detail
Pay: ₹2,000,000.00 - ₹2,500,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Application Question(s):
- Are you from the leather industry?
- Have you worked with leather product development and innovation?
- Do you have experience overseeing the merchandising department?
- Can you work with Sample Room Heads, Pattern Makers, Designers, Tailors and Sample Coordinators?
- Can you handle the in-house design team?
- Do you have experience handling CRM for the leather industry, supporting negotiations on commercial terms?
- Can you validate BOMs, material consumption, labor assumptions, overhead allocations, and commercial assumptions in collaboration with Product, Production, and Finance?
- Do you have experience working closely with product, production, planning, quality, finance and supply chain?
Work Location: In person
