Founded in 2004, Rapha exists to inspire the world to live life by bike. We believe that cycling has the power to improve people’s lives but as well as enjoying it for what it is today, we are determined to change cycling and open it up to more people so that they too can discover the joys of riding a bike. 

The Category Lead of Lifestyle will play a transformational role in Rapha’s next phase of growth by making the Rapha brand, product line and channel execution more relevant to a broader base of consumers. Responsible for all customer and business touch points and assets to establish the Rapha brand as an aspirational destination in the lifestyle market.

The role will report into Co-Managing Director and be responsible for the following areas. 

Key Responsibilities & Objectives:

• Commercial ownership for the lifestyle collection
• Create the product vision and strategic direction for the Lifestyle category and it’s collections based on consumer, market and brand insights
• Gather seasonal insights and needs for the consumer, market, regions and brand to craft well informed briefs that create clear direction of what’s required to deliver our strategic needs
• Deliver a seasonal line plan that delivers the commercial and strategic needs of the business
• Manage the product critical path 
• Drive the product go to market with the relevant marketing teams to deliver the product strategy through to the new consumer. 
• Equipping customer facing and go to market teams with the right product information to get it to the customer in the most effective way
• Work closely with the Senior Women’s product manager to ensure alignment in strategic direction
• Oversee the product within the Lifestyle category through the end to end product lifecycle from cradle to grave. 
• Work with the Supply Chain & Sustainability Director to deliver a supply chain and operating model that optimises quality, speed to market, margin and working capital within Rapha’s ambitious sustainability targets
• Oversee the P&L for the lifestyle business, taking full responsibility for sales, margin, OTB, people and costs across all elements of the business
• Work collaboratively on a day to day basis as part of the cross functional Lifestyle team, spanning Design, Creative, Engineering, Supply Chain and Marketing teams.  

THE CANDIDATE:

• Approximately 5+ years experience working as a Category Lead/Manager at similar role in the apparel industry for premium lifestyle, sportswear or outdoors brand
• Knowledge of lifestyle, athleisure, and / or sports apparel
• You will have high attention to detail & an eye for commercial data points
• You will possess strong interpersonal and communication skills to build relationships with both the internal cross functional team and external partners and key stakeholders
• Ability to work with a buyer to  source quality performance fabrics, trims and applications
• Knowledge of the apparel sourcing landscape and working directly with vendors
• Experience in contractual negotiations
• Managing buy budgets
• Working in a fast paced, cross functional environment

Working at Rapha

We are continuously looking into ways to invest in our employees and build a better working culture and environment. Here are just some of the internal benefits we offer. 

• Flexible working hours 
• Support ad-hoc remote working during the week - Minimum 3 days in office
• Free barista coffee and social drinks in the office
• Monthly department social events and quarterly office social away days
• We offer a flexible riding benefit to allow you to go out riding on a Wednesday morning with colleagues or learn to cycle to cycling through our Getting Started Scheme. 
• We offer all our employees a 50% apparel discount and a discount for family and friends 
• An annual clothing allowance 
• Free membership to the Rapha Cycling Club 
• Company Pension Scheme