The Director, Australia is a key senior role within the International leadership team, responsible for building Merit into a leading beauty brand in Australia while owning the commercial performance of the market. You will set and protect the local brand strategy, across DTC, influencer, content, PR and product launches, and turn it into commercial results across Retail Partners ANZ and Merit's own DTC channel. You will work with both the global team and local teams to grow the brand and deliver the sales plan, while building and leading a small, nimble local team across marketing, PR and education.

This is an either/or profile: we are equally open to a brand builder with strong commercial acumen and to a commercial leader with real brand-building instinct. What matters is that you can both elevate Merit's brand in the market and convert that into sell-through. You'll thrive in an entrepreneurial environment, comfortable wearing many hats in a lean organisation with a global HQ in the USA. Most importantly, you need to be excited to build Merit into a global beauty brand.

Responsibilities:

Brand building, marketing & DTC

• Set the local brand and marketing strategy, adapting global campaigns for the Australian audience while protecting and elevating Merit's brand equity.
• Own brand-building in the market — product launches, activations, and the local brand calendar.
• Provide the local support Merit's Australia DTC business needs to grow — influencer, content, social and retail media — partnering with the global team that executes DTC.
• Recruit, manage and develop the PR Manager — earned media, brand partnerships, events, gifting and press relationships.
• Stay hands-on across social, influencer, content and retail media.
• Align with global marketing and creative teams on budgets, goals and brand consistency.

Commercial strategy & sales planning

• Own the Australia P&L — revenue, margin and sell-through targets.
• Develop the sales strategy for retailer accounts, allowing for market needs, key account structure, competitive situation and company targets.
• Create and implement an annual business plan with Leadership taking into account all levers of growth: commercial agreements, marketing actions, merchandising and retail opportunities, profitability, trade terms, promotions and launches.
• Build and execute the go-to-market and commercialization strategy for the market, including all new product launches.
• Build collaborative working relationships with retailer partners at all levels (buyers, marketing, operations).
• Develop and coordinate with global teams to build and maintain demand/supply plans and ensure adequate stock levels.

Retail partnership, trade & retail marketing

• Own the day-to-day Retail ANZ relationship end to end — buyers, planning and retail media.
• Negotiate trade and retail marketing opportunities, space, visibility, launch support and in-store animations.
• Lead execution of all trade marketing, with support from global VM and creative teams.
• Measure ROI of trade opportunities and advise on which will drive the most commercial value.

Analytics

• Analyse sales by SKU and by door, and generate weekly sales reports to share with the executive team.
• Analyse sales trends and product opportunities, and monitor the competition — pricing, products, delivery schedules, merchandising and techniques — to make more informed recommendations.

Drive retail sales

• Manage daily and weekly sales, monitoring performance against targets and profitability, and ensuring adequate stock levels, replenishment and promotional orders.
• Develop alternative strategies to drive sales where required.

Education & field team

• Recruit, train and manage the Education (EDU) Lead and the field team across Australia, including both permanent staff and freelancers.
• Create a bespoke retail and education strategy for the market, tailored to retailers where required.
• Ensure top doors are trained frequently and reinforce that training with follow-up selling techniques, demonstrations and product information.
• Organise and lead events and seminars (brand, press, influencer, client, training, in-store initiatives).

Communications & leadership

• Communicate critical business information to the appropriate internal contacts for action.
• Liaise with all internal departments — marketing, finance, logistics — to ensure the market receives the appropriate level of support and all activity results in orders and in-store execution.
• Build, lead and set the culture for a lean, high-performing local team, and represent Merit as the senior leader on the ground.

Qualifications / Experience

• 7–10 years in the Australian beauty / retail market, ideally including time at an early-stage or start-up brand (scrappy, builder mentality, comfortable wearing many hats).
• A track record as either a brand builder or a commercial leader — and ideally some of both: building brand equity and demand on one side; owning a P&L, go-to-market and key accounts on the other.
• Brand-building expertise — able to set brand and marketing strategy and execute it (including DTC, influencer and content), and to recruit and manage a PR function.
• Commercialization background — a track record of owning a P&L, building go-to-market plans, and managing key accounts, category management and retail forecasting.
• Direct Retail ANZ experience is a strong plus, but not a hard requirement — the account is manageable, and we'd rather have the right brand-and-commercial builder.
• Proven people leadership — you've built and led commercial, marketing and/or field teams.
• Strong commercial acumen, analytical, and a good eye for market opportunities.
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication and organisational skills.
• Able to travel as needed and accept flexible working hours (morning / evening calls with other time zones).
• Fluent in English.
• Based in Sydney