Head of Marketing

WE ARE HIRING: Head of Marketing

Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Employment Type: Full Time
Industry: Apparel Manufacturing / Garment Exports

Role Overview 

We are seeking an accomplished and commercially driven Head of Marketing to provide strategic leadership and governance across Marketing & Merchandising functions while driving revenue growth, profitability, customer portfolio expansion, and long-term business sustainability. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading large customer portfolios, developing new business opportunities, strengthening global customer relationships, guiding commercial negotiations, overseeing merchandising operations, and ensuring cross-functional execution across design, sourcing, production, planning, and logistics functions. This role requires an experienced apparel industry leader with a strong commercial mindset, exceptional customer management capabilities, and the ability to drive business growth while maintaining operational excellence and governance standards. 

Key Responsibilities 

Strategic Leadership & Business Growth

• Provide strategic leadership and governance across Marketing and Merchandising functions.
• Drive revenue, profitability, and growth targets across assigned customer portfolios.
• Develop and execute business growth strategies aligned with organizational objectives.
• Identify opportunities for customer diversification, market expansion, and category growth.
• Lead strategic planning initiatives that support long-term business sustainability.
• Drive portfolio expansion through customer acquisition, upselling, and cross-category opportunities.

Customer Management & Business Development

• Manage and strengthen executive-level relationships with global customers and strategic accounts.
• Act as the primary escalation point for key customer, commercial, and operational matters.
• Build long-term customer engagement strategies that strengthen partnerships and customer loyalty.
• Lead business reviews, strategic discussions, and customer negotiations.
• Identify new business opportunities and expand existing customer relationships.
• Collaborate with customer stakeholders to understand business needs and future growth opportunities.

Commercial Management & Negotiations

• Provide strategic oversight of costing, pricing, margin management, and commercial governance.
• Approve significant pricing decisions and commercial negotiations.
• Lead key negotiations with customers and strategic suppliers to ensure sustainable profitability.
• Monitor profitability across customer accounts and recommend corrective actions where necessary.
• Drive initiatives that improve revenue, margins, and overall commercial performance.

Marketing, Merchandising & Product Development

• Provide leadership and governance for merchandising operations, product development, and customer programs.
• Oversee design development, Tech Pack approvals, sample development, and commercialization activities.
• Guide customer account teams in managing seasonal developments and product launches.
• Ensure successful execution of merchandising strategies aligned with customer expectations and business objectives.
• Drive innovation and support value-added product development opportunities.

Cross-Functional Integration & Operational Excellence

• Drive collaboration between Marketing, Merchandising, Design, Sourcing, Production, Planning, and Logistics teams.
• Ensure effective coordination across functions to achieve customer delivery and service expectations.
• Oversee purchase order management, raw material planning, inventory optimization, and operational performance.
• Monitor production performance, capacity utilization, and on-time delivery metrics.
• Identify and mitigate operational risks, bottlenecks, and performance challenges.

Market Intelligence & Strategic Planning

• Monitor global fashion, apparel, customer, and sourcing trends to support business planning.
• Conduct market intelligence and competitor analysis to identify new opportunities.
• Leverage customer insights to support innovation, assortment planning, and product strategies.
• Provide strategic recommendations to senior leadership based on market developments and business performance.

Performance Management & Governance

• Review revenue performance, profitability, customer health, and operational KPIs.
• Establish governance frameworks to ensure data accuracy, compliance, and process integrity.
• Drive accountability and performance improvements across customer-facing teams.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, governance standards, and ethical business practices.
• Prepare and present business performance updates and strategic recommendations to senior management.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop Account Leads and senior team members.
• Build leadership capability, succession pipelines, and workforce development plans.
• Create a high-performance culture focused on accountability, customer excellence, and business growth.
• Drive employee engagement, coaching, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support talent retention and capability building across the department.

Candidate Profile

• Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in Marketing, Merchandising, Business Management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant experience within Marketing, Merchandising, Business Development, or Strategic Account Management.
• Extensive experience within the apparel manufacturing, apparel exports, sourcing, or buying office environment.
• Strong experience managing large customer portfolios and driving revenue growth.
• Demonstrated responsibility for managing an annual business portfolio of at least USD 80–100 Million.
• Strong experience across marketing, merchandising, sourcing, customer management, and commercial negotiations.
• Proven ability to manage global customer relationships and complex business negotiations.
• Experience leading large cross-functional teams.
• Strong commercial acumen with expertise in costing, pricing, profitability analysis, and margin management.
• Experience using ERP systems, preferably SAP.
• Excellent analytical, negotiation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong understanding of apparel product development, sourcing processes, production planning, and supply chain management.
• Ability to think strategically while maintaining operational excellence.
• Strong leadership capability with experience mentoring and developing future leaders.
• Experience working with international customers and global apparel brands will be highly advantageous.

Ready to take your career to new heights? 

We're InTalent Asia, your go-to recruitment partner in Sri Lanka, and we've got an exciting opportunity for you! 

Our client is looking for a skilled individual to fill the role of Head of Marketing. 

Apply now and see how you can be the perfect fit for this exclusive position!

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