Retail Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Role overview

We are seeking an experienced Retail Subject Matter Expert to provide deep domain expertise across retail operations — spanning merchandising, planning, store operations, supply chain, and retail analytics. The SME translates hands-on retail knowledge into actionable strategy, clear product requirements, and AI/technology-enabled improvements, partnering closely with product, engineering, and data science teams.

Key responsibilities

Retail domain leadership

• Act as the domain authority across merchandising, assortment & category management, planning & forecasting, store operations, and supply chain.
• Provide strategic guidance on retail processes, KPIs, data structures, and operational workflows.
• Translate business needs into detailed requirements, use cases, and process maps.

Product & solution contribution

• Partner with product, engineering, and data science teams to validate features and ensure solutions align with retail realities.
• Participate in requirement reviews, backlog grooming, and solution design workshops.
• Evaluate prototypes, analytics dashboards, and AI/ML models for business fit and accuracy.

Operational intelligence & process excellence

• Identify improvement opportunities across inventory, pricing, promotions, replenishment, and demand forecasting.
• Map "as-is" and design "to-be" operational processes.

Stakeholder engagement

• Run discovery sessions, interviews, and deep-dives with cross-functional business teams.
• Communicate insights and recommendations through clear storytelling and presentations.

Training, governance & change management

• Support SOPs, process documentation, and training assets for new systems.
• Drive adoption of new tools, dashboards, and AI-enabled workflows.
• Support governance for data quality and performance.

Must-have qualifications

• 12–15 years of experience in retail, merchandising, planning, category management, or supply chain operations.
• Strong command of retail KPIs — sell-through, GMROI, inventory turn, margin mix, OOS, promo uplift, safety stock.
• Depth in 2–3 retail domains: merchandising · planning & forecasting · category management · store operations · e-commerce & omni-channel · supply chain.
• Hands-on experience with retail systems — POS, ERP, merchandise/demand planning, allocation, or replenishment tools.
• Ability to define business requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and operational workflows.
• Strong analytical, documentation, and communication skills.

Good-to-have

• Experience collaborating with AI/ML, data engineering, or product teams on retail solutions.
• Familiarity with retail cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) and data ecosystems.
• Comfort with BI / analytics tools (Power BI, Tableau).
• Exposure to Generative or agentic AI use cases in retail.
• Experience with process standardization and operational-excellence initiatives.

Soft skills

Strong problem-solving and structured thinking · ability to simplify complex retail processes for technical teams · high ownership and bias for action · excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Retail Management, or a related field.
• MBA or advanced certification in Retail / Supply Chain preferred.