Consumer Industries & Retail Principal

Job Description

As a Principal within Kearney’s Consumer Industries & Retail Practice (CIRP), you will play a critical leadership role in building and scaling our Fashion & Luxury sector. This is a high-visibility position for a seasoned leader with deep apparel and merchandising expertise who can engage clients at the executive level, lead complex engagements end to end, and help shape the future of a fast-growing practice.

You will work closely with senior client stakeholders and internal leadership to develop insights, drive impact, and grow long-term client relationships across the fashion, apparel, footwear, and adjacent beauty ecosystem.

What You’ll Do

Client Leadership & Delivery

· Lead large, high-impact Fashion & Luxury engagements from problem definition through analysis, synthesis, and executive-level client communication

· Serve as a trusted advisor to C-suite and senior merchandising, planning, and brand leaders at leading apparel and retail organizations

· Drive work across corporate and growth strategy, merchandising and assortment strategy, apparel planning, go-to-market strategy, and enterprise transformation

· Lead cross-functional teams and manage multiple complex workstreams with autonomy and accountability

Industry & Functional Expertise

· Bring deep content expertise in apparel and fashion, with a strong command of core business functions including:

oMerchandising and assortment strategy

oApparel and demand planning

oProduct development, sourcing, and design (preferred)

oBrand, franchise, and portfolio strategy

· Apply this expertise across vertically integrated apparel brands, multi-brand retailers, and luxury players

· Contribute thought leadership on industry trends and emerging topics across fashion, apparel, and beauty

Business Development & Practice Growth

· Originate and expand client relationships, with a clear ability to drive revenue growth within existing and new accounts

· Lead proposal development, participate in senior-level client pitches, and shape commercial strategy

· Support the continued growth and differentiation of Kearney’s Fashion & Luxury offering within CIRP

· Mentor and develop junior team members while helping build a strong, collaborative sector community

Who you are:

After nearly 100 years, we know this business is fundamentally about making connections—between facts, figures, insights, strategies, tools, technologies, and above all, people. That’s why we look for collaborative, insightful, and inquisitive problem-solvers who don’t accept the first thing in front of them and who are always unapologetically themselves.

We want to hear from you if you have:

What we can offer you:

Every day, our people work to be the difference for our clients, our communities, and our colleagues. Helping them make an impact, they are sustained by a competitive remuneration package plus comprehensive benefits and perks, including but not limited to: