Overview
Job Title: Director - Business Applications
The role will oversee and optimize the suite of business applications critical to the operations and growth of a luxury fashion house. This role requires a balance of strategic vision, operational leadership, and hands-on execution to deliver scalable, secure, and innovative digital platforms across all business units, including retail, wholesale, and e-commerce. You will serve as the primary liaison between the business teams and IT, driving initiatives that enhance efficiency, improve the customer experience, and enable data-driven decision-making.
Key Competencies
* Fashion/Retail/ Luxury Goods industry business acumen
* Agile and adaptable to fast-paced, trend-driven environments
* Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills
* Collaborative leadership and cross-functional team management
* Customer-focused mindset driving superior user experience
Key Responsibilities
* Manage and optimize core business applications specific to the fashion sector, including ERP systems for inventory and production planning, PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solutions, CRM platforms, e-commerce solutions, and POS systems.
* Collaborate with design, merchandising, supply chain, sales, and marketing teams to translate their needs into effective technology solutions.
* Lead system implementations, upgrades, and integrations that support fashion-specific processes like seasonal product launches, vendor collaboration, and order fulfillment.
* Ensure business applications support omnichannel retail strategies, including brick-and-mortar stores, online sales, and wholesale distribution.
* Oversee vendor partnerships for fashion technology platforms and ensure contract and service-level agreements meet business needs.
* Monitor application performance and user adoption, proactively addressing issues and training users across departments.
* Stay informed on emerging technologies in fashion tech and retail innovation to recommend improvements.
* Drive digital transformation initiatives that enhance agility and scalability in response to fast-changing fashion trends.
* Manage global IT infrastructure, ensuring high availability, performance, and scalability with knowledge on Cisco appliances and Windows/AS400 systems.
* Oversee cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and disaster recovery planning across all regions.
* Develop and execute the global IT roadmap in alignment with business strategy.
* Lead and develop a multicultural IT team distributed globally.
* Manage multimillion-euro budgets with a strong focus on cost optimization and ROI.
Qualifications
Education & Experience:
* Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Luxury, Fashion Merchandising, or consumer goods industries.
* 15+ years managing business applications, preferably in fashion, retail, or consumer goods sectors.
* Proven track record in delivering globalenterprise applications, including ERP (Stealth), CRM & Commerce Cloud (Salesforce), PLM, Retail Pro Prism (POS), IT transformations, and data-driven business initiatives and cloud-based platforms (Azure, AWS), and BI/analytics
* Strong experience managing international IT teams and multimillion-euro budgets.
Skills
* Strong understanding of fashion retail operations, supply chain, and product lifecycle.
* Experience managing omnichannel retail technologies and ecommerce platform integrations.
* Excellent project management and vendor relationship skills.
* Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable business insights.
* Strong knowledge of cybersecurity, compliance, and IT infrastructure management.
* Effective communication and stakeholder management across creative and technical teams.
* Understanding of business intelligence (BI) solutions to provide accurate, real-time insights with knowledge on Oracle DB and Business Objects.
* Knowledge of Cisco appliances and Windows/AS400 systems.
Certifications (Preferred)
* ITIL certification; additional certifications in cloud platforms, cybersecurity, or digital transformation are a plus.
* Vendor-specific certifications related to fashion and retail systems.
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