Fashion Marketplace Category and P&L Head — Interim

The mandate

The seat holds fashion assortment and marketplace contribution decisions as the delegated P&L owner. Gross merchandise value is visible, but returns, promotional support and partner obligations can change the economics after a sale is recorded. The interim will hold the category P&L seat and restore accountable choices without assuming platform-wide technology or finance authority.

The nine-month term begins on 19 October 2026, five days weekly from Bengaluru with agreed brand and merchandising sessions. A permanent category-head search runs in parallel. The first commercial review must connect assortment decisions to inventory exposure, return behaviour and net contribution, identifying where apparently successful volume relies on support that is not economically durable.

Handover requires a category contribution bridge, evidenced assortment priorities and joint business plans whose obligations are understood by the responsible managers. The successor must chair a category review and challenge a proposed brand intervention using retained evidence. Completion is the stable transfer of P&L judgement, not a promise to reach a predetermined merchandise-value target.

The head may prioritise existing category capacity, approve assortment moves and promotional support within the chief commercial officer's delegation. New strategic contracts, permanent senior hires and commitments above delegated limits require executive consent. Finance owns accounting policy, and platform owners retain technical release decisions; the category head cannot change those boundaries to improve a commercial metric.

Marketplace-platform redesign, enterprise supply-chain restructuring and ownership of all apparel categories are excluded. The sponsor provides authorised contribution records, assortment data and named brand and operating contacts. The role is intended for AVP or category-head leadership with demonstrated fashion marketplace scope, able to balance customer relevance and partner growth against inventory and return economics.

What you will own

• Decide delegated assortment and support choices from net contribution, returns and inventory evidence, preventing merchandise-value growth from becoming the only test of category success.
• Establish the category economics bridge with finance and operations, identifying which costs are controllable by category managers and which require a broader executive decision.
• Set joint business plan review gates that preserve partner obligations and measurable benefits, requiring an accountable owner before support commitments are treated as justified.
• Reallocate existing merchandising and analytical capacity toward the most consequential category opportunities, documenting what selection or partner work receives less immediate attention.
• Authorise category interventions inside delegation, escalating strategic contract changes or support commitments that exceed the approved commercial authority, with the unresolved supporting evidence identified.
• Chair inventory and return reviews that distinguish assortment weakness, customer fit and execution defects, avoiding a single convenient explanation for every underperforming line.
• Transfer the P&L rhythm, partner commitments and assortment decision record to the successor, observing live reviews and confirming ownership of unresolved category exposures.

Candidate qualifications

• Demonstrate AVP or category-head P&L ownership in fashion marketplaces, ecommerce or omnichannel apparel. Explain a commercial choice you made, the contribution evidence used and how return or inventory economics changed the apparent attractiveness of the option.
• Show practical assortment judgement backed by customer and product evidence. Candidates should describe a selection decision that balanced relevance, breadth and economic exposure rather than simply increasing available styles or brands.
• Evidence strategic-brand and joint business planning responsibility. Provide an example where support obligations or partner economics required a difficult tradeoff, identifying your delegated authority and the approval needed for a wider commitment.
• Demonstrate leadership across merchandising, finance and operations interfaces without claiming authority over platform or accounting decisions. Explain a disagreement resolved through evidence and what remained outside the category seat.
• Provide a durable category transfer with usable decision records and net-contribution definitions. Show how another manager could challenge a fresh assortment intervention, retain unresolved partner obligations and distinguish category-controlled actions from enterprise dependencies. Candidates should explain a case where reported volume improved while returns or support costs weakened value, and what changed in the review rather than merely in the metric definition.

Application

Applications for this mandate are received in one way only: through the India Board Terminal's application process. It is automated end to end. Your Executive Passport travels to the mandate holder in its confidential form, your answers to the three questions below are read before anything else in your file, and every stage that follows is recorded on your applications page.

There is no address to write to and no intermediary to call. The mandate holder reads what the Terminal delivers and nothing else, which is what keeps the process the same for every applicant and keeps your name out of it until you release it. Applications close on 9 October 2026. Mandate reference PCT-INT-2026-IND-15.