Lead Visual Merchandiser

We have a new opportunity to join us as Lead Visual Merchandiser, as a Lead position this role will manage a team of Visual Merchandisers and external partners to bring our brand to life in spaces across the globe, from commercial retail environments to immersive brand events. The Lead Visual Merchandiser role will be responsible for deadline and capacity planning of in store, showroom and event installations.

You will design and create immersive events, showroom spaces, trade shows and in store activations that align with brand aesthetics, delight customers and drive sales. You will be responsible for amplifying Brand narratives through immersive spaces and retailer touch points, capturing our luxury heritage and aligning with each brand’s identity and messaging pillars. Merging a strong creative vision with commercial strategy and insight to enhance each consumer journey.

Areas of Accountability.

• Develop and execute visual merchandising strategies for global shop-in-shops, retail environments, trade shows, events, showrooms and experiential spaces, ensuring a consistent brand message across all touchpoints.

• Maintain visual coherence and brand integrity across all of our Brands, tailoring displays for each brand’s unique identity and audience within the luxury interiors market.

• Ensure Collaboration & Coordination across key stakeholders. Work cross-functionally with Brand Managers, Commercial Teams, external retail partners and the wider Marketing Team to ensure alignment on strategic goals and brand direction.

• Innovation in design concepts and Brand moments – Stay ahead of design and luxury retail trends to incorporate fresh, innovative concepts into visual merchandising concepts and activations.

• A deep understanding of our individual brands. Understanding of the importance of brand alignment, ensuring all touchpoints elevate the customer experience

• Project Management – Ensuring all visual merchandising projects are pitched and executed on time and on budget.

• Lead creative across multiple categories such as Showroom design and Install, VM displays, Trade and Press Exhibitions, Launch Events around the world.

• The Lead Visual Merchandiser will be expected to travel as part of the role to project manage installs at our owned and 3rd party showrooms.

Responsibilities.

• Visual Merchandising Execution. Design and install visual displays that represent the distinct identity of each brand across shop-in-shop locations and flagship retail spaces.

• Develop and adapt visual standards for each space to ensure consistency and adaptability for different retail formats across sites around the world.

• Oversee end-to-end execution for trade shows, immersive brand spaces, and pop-up installations, collaborating with Commercial and wider Marketing team to create cohesive environments that engage customers.

• Brand-Specific Adaptation. Understand and embody each brand’s aesthetic, ethos, and key messaging to create immersive, relevant customer experiences. Ensuring visual displays, fixtures, and layouts for each brand and retailer to create differentiated experiences within multi-brand and shop-in-shop environments.

• Retail & Shop-in-Shop Partnership Management. Collaborate with retail partners to ensure brand compliance and premium positioning within their spaces. Project manage in store installations to align with brand activation timelines and seasonal promotions. Provide training and guidance to retailers on visual standards, and brand storytelling to maintain visual standards long-term.

• Trade Show & Immersive Space Design. Lead the creative vision and manage the logistical execution for brand presence at trade shows, showcasing each brand’s identity through carefully designed and detailed exhibits. Conceptualise and deliver immersive brand experiences for pop-up spaces and other experiential events, working with vendors and designers to create memorable spaces.

Measures of Success.

• Visual Consistency & Brand Integrity implementing consistent brand standards across multiple environments.

• Sales & Customer Engagement, generating a positive impact on sales figures and measurable increase in customer engagement through impactful visual merchandising. Drive commercial success through strategic product placement, measured by an uplift in the sale of skus highlighted in displays.

• Innovation in design, regularly introduce innovative ideas and industry trends to enhance displays and brand activations. Increase in footfall by 50% within showrooms and exhibition events. Measured by Lead generation or bookings.

• Cultivate relationships with suppliers and retail partners through consistent, impactful visual merchandising support and collaborative problem-solving. Work together to achieve inspiring installations for showrooms and exhibitions.

• Effective projects management. Installation completed within the agreed timelines. Consistent and clear communication with all involved teams to ensure everyone is informed and aligned with regular project updates provided to stakeholders.

• Budget management. Project stays within the allocated budget, demonstrating effective cost management and resource allocation whilst identifying and implementing cost-saving strategies without compromising quality.

Connecting with others.

• Internal: Design, marketing, licensing, procurement, sales, finance, merchandising, GLT.

• External: Photographers, film makers, AI, location agencies, collaborators/interior designers, upholsterers/curtain makers, set builders, couriers, home/lifestyle brands, furniture manufacturers, key suppliers.

Qualification.

• Marketing or Art or equivalent degree

• 5 GCSE’s or equivalent ( A-C)

• Full UK Driving license

• Minimum 5 years of experience in visual merchandising for luxury interior, furniture, or home decor brands, with proven experience managing multi-brand environments.

Skills & Experience.

• The ideal candidate will have a keen eye for detail, an understanding of the luxury market, and experience in executing cohesive visual merchandising strategies that reinforce brand identity and captivate target audiences

• A highly self-motivated individual with well developed commercial acumen

• Enjoy working in a team and closely with a number of internal stakeholders

• A creative thinker and problem solver who works well under pressure

• Good at building relationships with negotiating skills

• Well organised with the ability to plan and deliver multiple projects on tight deadlines with attention to detail. Effective project management, time management and budge management.

• A strong aesthetic sensibility, detail-oriented and able to manage large scale instillations with creativity and precision.

• Up-to-date on trends in luxury retail and interior design; familiarity with trade show planning and retail partner collaboration.

• Excellent collaboration skills to work effectively across teams and with retail partners, with the ability to communicate visual concepts clearly.

• Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office, Adobe suite, with a knowledge of CAD and Google sketch up.

Behaviours.

Inspirational, proactive, dynamic, professional, organised, approachable, confident, flexible, creative, decisive.

About Us.

Sanderson Design Group is an international luxury interior furnishings company that designs, manufactures and markets wallpapers and fabrics together with a wide range of ancillary interior products.

In 2020, we brought our portfolio of brands home to Sanderson Design Group, evoking the combined longevity and prodigious creative history of our brands. Sanderson Design Group describes the ebullience of our past endeavours. It sketches the outline of our

future. A collective of quintessentially British luxury interior brands and 2 manufacturing brands, at Sanderson Design Group we are Sanderson, Morris & Co., Zoffany, Harlequin, Clarke & Clarke, Scion, Anstey Wallpaper Company and Standfast & Barracks.

Our purpose is "To bring the Beautiful into People’s Homes and Lives". This has defined and shaped our brands since our very earliest days. The oldest brand in our arsenal, from where we derive the namesake of our group, begun life in 1860, as an importer of fine French wallpapers to London. Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd played a pivotal role in defining English interior decoration tastes and its early success led to displaying designs at London’s finest showroom, at Berners Street. Around this time in 1924, Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd were awarded The Royal Warrant, becoming “purveyors of wallpaper and paint” to the court of George V.

We recognise that each one of our brands contributes a unique chapter to our story. It is why we represent the full spectrum of British interior design, catering from cutting-edge sleek modern styles, to the hearty warmth of traditional forms.

Our decision to rebrand as Sanderson Design Group in 2020 is our way of paying homage to our rich history, as well as marking our path towards a new future. As custodians of over 160 years of design experience, we are proud to Bring the Beautiful into People’s Homes and Lives. We are Sanderson Design Group.