MidFull TimeEN
Music is Universal
It’s the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world’s leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.
Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation.
We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you from application onwards, including alternatives to the online form or to disclose a neurocognitive condition, please email UniversalMusicCareers@umusic.com.
Universal Music Group UK
Location: 4 Pancras Square, London
Working pattern: 4 days per week expected in the office
About the opportunity
Universal Music Group UK and Apple Corps are working together to build a dedicated team focused on shaping the next chapter of Beatles ecommerce, retail, product and customer experience.
This is a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of music, culture, commerce, creativity and fan experience. The Beatles remain one of the most important and influential creative forces in the world, with a legacy that continues to inspire fans across generations.
This role will be employed by Universal Music Group UK and based at UMG’s London office at 4 Pancras Square. The recruitment process will be managed by the Universal Music Group UK Talent Acquisition team in collaboration with Apple Corps.
Role purpose
The eCommerce Merchandise Product Manager will be responsible for driving ecommerce merchandise product strategy across a portfolio of the Beatales stores.
This role will work closely with Apple Corps, UMG label teams, artist management, creative teams, N1 Creative and third-party merchandising partners to identify, develop, produce and deliver profitable merchandise collection ranges that connect artists and fans.
The role combines buying, merchandising, product development, creative project management and commercial planning. It will be central to developing high-quality, sustainable and commercially effective merchandise collections that are aligned with artist identity, fan expectations, fashion and seasonal trends, ecommerce best practice and label commercial strategy.
This is a fast-paced and varied role, suited to someone who can balance creative ambition with commercial performance, operational delivery and exceptional fan experience.
Key responsibilities
Merchandise strategy and range development
Lead the ecommerce merchandise product strategy across the Beatles stores.
Develop focused, profitable and innovative ecommerce product strategies.
Build merchandise collection ranges that reflect artist identity, fan expectations, ecommerce best practice and wider commercial objectives.
Manage always-on merchandise collection strategies, ensuring artist stores remain active outside traditional album pre-order and release cycles.
Identify opportunities to create new merchandise ranges across developing and established artists.
Use buying and merchandising expertise to shape product direction, range architecture and category development.
Ensure merchandise ranges are commercially focused, creatively strong, operationally achievable and aligned with customer experience goals.
Artist, label and stakeholder partnership
Act as the key point of contact for the Beatles team on all merchandise collection-related activity.
Work closely with Apple Corps, UMG label teams, artist management, A&R, creative teams, N1 Creative and third-party merchandisers.
Confidently pitch and present ecommerce merchandise ideas, product strategies and deal opportunities.
Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, acting as the central point of coordination across teams.
Advise stakeholders on merchandise development, ecommerce best practice, product opportunities and fan experience.
Support joined-up decision making across creative, commercial, operational and marketing teams.
Creative development and product storytelling
Work with internal and external creative teams to develop merchandise collections that align with artist aesthetic, brand world and fan expectations.
Project manage design briefs, creative outputs, product concepts and collection development.
Create and use mood boards to support product planning, trend interpretation and collection direction.
Translate music, culture, fashion and seasonal trends into compelling product opportunities.
Ensure products feel authentic to the artist and relevant to their audience.
Partner with creative teams to ensure design outputs are commercially practical and aligned with supplier production capabilities.
Buying, merchandising and commercial planning
Build buying matrices to manage forecasting quantities, sell-through, rate of sale, margin, stock levels and promotional opportunities.
Use commercial insight to guide product selection, range planning, pricing, replenishment and lifecycle management.
Analyse and report on collection effectiveness, identifying where products need to be repushed, reshot, promoted or optimised.
Work with marketing teams across CRM, organic and paid channels to support product visibility and sell-through.
Manage product performance against revenue, margin and wider ecommerce KPIs.
Maintain a strong commercial and analytical approach to product decision making.
Production and critical path management
Oversee the development and production critical path for merchandise ranges.
Work with N1 Creative and suppliers to source appropriate blanks, develop samples and manage production timelines.
Ensure products are manufactured and delivered to warehouse on time and in line with campaign requirements.
Manage collection production workflows, including estimating, visual approvals, pre-production sampling, print file delivery, production tracking and final delivery.
Drive projects forward proactively, taking ownership of timelines and escalating risks where required.
Support design and creative teams with clear timelines to ensure merchandise is printed and delivered on time.
Supplier, sampling and production coordination
Work with N1 Creative to research, assess and onboard new suppliers where appropriate.
Review the effectiveness of current suppliers and support improvements where needed.
Manage product sampling, sample approvals and production-ready outputs.
Coordinate product shoots and ensure relevant teams have the assets required to market and sell collections effectively.
Maintain strong knowledge of blanks, suppliers and production capabilities across music, fashion and merchandise environments.
Ensure all product development reflects quality expectations, sustainability considerations and commercial requirements.
Trading, marketing and performance optimisation
Work with N1 Creative to ensure the direct-to-consumer collection calendar is up to date and aligned with annual growth KPIs.
Attend weekly trade and calendar planning meetings with N1 Creative and relevant teams.
Initiate additional production, design or planning meetings where needed to keep projects on track.
Partner with CRM, paid, organic and marketing teams to support ecommerce sales and collection performance.
Use marketing channel mix insight to help drive product visibility, engagement and conversion.
Use Google Analytics or other analytics platforms to track performance and inform future planning.
Financial management and profitability
Run efficient product P&Ls that meet label, artist and commercial requirements.
Work with N1 Creative production teams to secure the best possible pricing and margins.
Balance creative product ambition with margin, price architecture, supplier capability and fan expectations.
Monitor profitability across collections and recommend actions to improve margin and revenue performance.
Ensure product decisions support both commercial objectives and exceptional fan experience.
Key skills and experience
Buying, merchandising and ecommerce expertise
Strong experience in ecommerce, specifically across fashion, apparel buying and merchandising.
Ability to develop merchandise collection ranges across multiple artists, categories and customer segments.
Strong understanding of ecommerce best practice, with a focus on fan experience, conversion and commercial performance.
Experience developing always-on, evergreen or artist-led merchandise collection strategies.
Ability to manage product range planning, category development, forecasting, stock levels, sell-through and margin.
Commercially confident, with the ability to work towards revenue, margin and ecommerce KPIs.
Product development and production knowledge
Strong understanding of garment development, merchandise production and production critical paths.
Knowledge of a wide range of on-trend printing and production techniques, including direct-to-garment, dye sublimation, cut and sew and screen print processes.
Experience working with blanks, suppliers and merchandise production partners.
Understanding of supplier capabilities, production timelines, sampling processes and quality expectations.
Experience handling digital files, with a good understanding of composition requirements for digital, litho and screen print, including CMYK and spot colour.
Creative and strategic capability
A passion for music, fashion, apparel and merchandise.
Ability to combine creative product development with commercial and operational delivery.
Strong creative strategist mindset, with the ability to shape engaging products that are authentic to artists and meaningful to fans.
Experience creating mood boards, interpreting trends and translating creative direction into commercially effective product ranges.
Confidence advising on design direction and helping creative teams develop products that are both compelling and achievable.
Project management and operational delivery
Exceptional project management skills.
Confident leading projects from concept through to delivery.
Ability to manage multiple artists, collections, stakeholders, suppliers and timelines at once.
Proactive approach, with the ability to push projects forward and make clear decisions.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment with tight deadlines.
Ability to manage administrative project requirements with accuracy, structure and attention to detail.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Excel.
Stakeholder management and communication
Strong relationship-building skills across internal teams, artist teams, suppliers and third-party partners.
Confident presenting ideas, strategies and product plans to internal and external stakeholders.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to speak confidently in meetings and influence decision making.
Comfortable liaising with third parties and proactively driving initiatives through to completion.
Able to act as a central point of contact across creative, commercial, production and marketing teams.
Commercial analysis and marketing understanding
Strong analytical approach to business, with the ability to interpret performance data and make practical recommendations.
Experience analysing collection effectiveness, sales performance, sell-through, rate of sale and margin.
Solid understanding of performance marketing and how marketing channel mix can drive ecommerce sales.
Knowledge of Google Analytics or other major analytics platforms.
Ability to work with CRM, organic and paid marketing teams to improve product performance and customer engagement.
Experience requirements
Demonstrable experience in ecommerce, specifically within fashion, apparel buying and merchandising.
Experience developing merchandise, apparel or fashion product ranges from concept to delivery.
Experience managing product development, sampling, production timelines and critical paths.
Experience working with creative teams, suppliers, production partners and third-party merchandisers.
Experience managing ecommerce product strategies across multiple brands, artists, stores or collections.
Experience building buy matrices, managing forecasts, sell-through, rate of sale, stock levels and margins.
Experience using ecommerce data and analytics to inform product, marketing and trading decisions.
Experience presenting product strategies, creative concepts or commercial recommendations to stakeholders.
Experience working with marketing teams across CRM, organic and paid channels to support ecommerce sales.
Experience working in a fast-paced commercial environment with multiple deadlines and competing priorities.
Desirable experience
Experience in label or merchandise brand management.
Experience working in music, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, retail, artist merchandise or fan commerce environments.
Experience working with artist management, A&R, creative teams or label stakeholders.
Experience developing merchandise ranges for both frontline and catalogue artists.
Experience with sustainable product development, responsible sourcing or lower-impact merchandise production.
Just So You Know…
The company presents this job description as a guide to the major areas and duties for which the jobholder is accountable. However, the business operates in an environment that demands change and the jobholder's specific responsibilities and activities will vary and develop. Therefore, the job description should be seen as indicative and not as a permanent, definitive, and exhaustive statement.
