National Head - Visual Merchandising & Store

Position: National Head - Visual Merchandising & Store Experience
Role Purpose

The Head of Visual Merchandising will own the end-to-end store experience charter across grocery formats and brands—driving commercial VM, in-store brand storytelling, space productivity, and scalable design systems. This role will also oversee NSO (New Store Opening) design execution, ensuring consistency, speed, and differentiation across neighborhood, premium, and large-format stores. This role will require the candidate to rollout campaigns nationally in 1000+ stores.
The role sits at the intersection of design, retail operations, marketing, and commercial performance.

Experience - 18+ Years ( 15+ year in Visual Merchandising)
Education - MBA in Marketing or Relevant Design Degree

Job Location - Ghansoli Navi Mumbai ( WFO )

Key Responsibilities

1. Visual Merchandising & Brand Experience

Define and evolve VM strategy and guidelines for each brand, aligned to distinct CVPs (value-led, premium neighborhood, fresh-first).

Own store zoning, planogram principles, sightlines, adjacencies, and traffic flow to maximize conversion and basket value.
Drive seasonal, festive, and campaign-led VM storytelling across windows, entrances, power aisles, and focal bays.
Ensure execution excellence across categories—fresh, FMCG, staples, private labels, and impulse.

2. NSO (New Store Opening) Ownership

Lead end-to-end VM & experience readiness for NSOs, from concept to launch.
Partner with projects, architects, and store planning teams on spatial layouts, structural elements, and customer journey design.
Oversee fixtures, props, graphics, signage, in-store communication, and navigation systems.
Build repeatable NSO playbooks to enable faster rollout with consistent quality across cities and formats.

3. Technical & Design Leadership

Strong command over store layouts, bay logic, fixture design, materials, lighting basics, colour theory, and typography.
Ability to read and influence GFCs, CAD drawings, elevation plans, and mockups.
Own VM cost optimization, material standardization, and vendor rationalization without compromising brand experience.
Leverage data (sales density, heat maps, category productivity) to refine VM decisions.

4. People, Capability & Governance

Lead, mentor, and scale a central VM COE and regional VM teams.
Build strong cross-functional alignment with marketing, category, supply chain, operations, and projects.
Establish VM audit frameworks, SOPs, and training modules for store teams.
Drive a culture of design thinking, experimentation, and commercial accountability.

Leadership & Behavioral Expectations

Strategic thinker with hands-on bias—comfortable both defining vision and walking stores.
Strong influence without authority across multiple brands and formats.
High aesthetic sensitivity combined with commercial acumen.
Ability to manage scale, speed, and ambiguity in a high-growth retail environment.
Inspires teams, vendors, and partners through clarity, high standards, and creative confidence.