■Recruitment Background:
GU, one of the Fast Retailing Group’s flagship brands, aims to become a true global brand by upholding its brand message, “YOUR FREEDOM: The freedom to reinvent yourself.” We achieve this by creating hit products that capture major trends, offering attractive styling suggestions that reflect the latest fashion, preventing stockouts of best-selling items, and delivering products and services that exceed customer expectations.
GU still faces many challenges on its path to becoming a true global brand. These include building a stronger management team through the recruitment and development of a diverse workforce; enhancing the quality of products and styling; creating store environments that make shopping easier for customers;improving the accuracy of inventory and sales forecasts, and establishing a flexible system for additional production. We are seeking a VMD Manager candidate who can join us in advancing GU’s unique brand value—“Mini Max edit” (enjoying fashion to the fullest with a minimal number of SKUs and affordable prices)—on the global stage through transformations in every aspect of the apparel business.

■Department Overview
The IMD (In-Store Merchandising) Department, to which you will be assigned, is responsible for in-store merchandising. As the overall producer of store design and operations, the department aims to transform stores—which serve as the direct point of contact with customers—into spaces where GU’s brand message is expressed in every aspect, ensuring that every customer who visits can enjoy fashion.

The IMD Department consists of two teams: the Layout Team, which plans the optimal in-store product layout, and the VMD Team, which conveys the appeal of the laid-out products through mannequin styling. This recruitment is for the VMD Team. Rather than working in isolation, VMD staff collaborate with members from various internal departments—including the Layout Team, MD, the Sales Department (which handles store operations), and individual stores—to create the optimal sales floor.

■Job Description:
GU, which offers the latest fashion, aims to help customers visually understand the image and appeal of our products. Through mannequin styling, you will create sales floors that allow customers to enjoy fashion and shopping by attractively expressing the concepts and stories behind each individual product.
Specifically, your responsibilities will include the following:
・Monthly and weekly mannequin styling and sales floor displays. This applies to all stores domestically and internationally (including new stores and flagship stores), and is carried out in accordance with sales floor layout strategies and concepts.
・Developing guidelines for mannequin styling to be implemented across all GU stores in Japan and overseas
・Styling for in-store promotional materials
・Sales activities and training of your own team members to achieve ideal VMD across all GU stores domestically and internationally
・The Job Description may change within the scope of duties related to various headquarters departments due to department transfers or organizational changes

■ Career Path
There are opportunities to advance your expertise as a global VMD manager or to take on new challenges in other teams within the IMD Department, such as layout design.

■ Required Experience, Skills, and Abilities
・At least 5 years of experience in planning and designing brand retail spaces, not limited to the apparel industry
・Ability to grasp trends, market changes, and the essence of things
・A collaborative attitude and leadership skills
・Management skills in talent development

■Ideal Candidate
・Someone capable of creating business-driven store environments—going beyond mere in-store decoration—that allow customers to enjoy their shopping experience and ultimately drive sales 
・Someone who can express current fashion trends while thoroughly considering how to showcase the concept, product characteristics, and story behind each individual item on the sales floor, and who can present the entire store as a single wardrobe through styling
・Someone who, in addition to having the sense and intuition to showcase products, can design the store while taking sales plans and sales trends into account

■Company Name: GU Co., Ltd.

■Employment Type: Full-time Employee

■Annual Salary
・Annual Salary Range: 6.24–13.50 million yen (Monthly Salary: 390,000–750,000 yen)
・Allowances: Commuting allowance, overtime pay, etc. (*All subject to company regulations)
・Bonuses: Semi-annual bonuses twice a year, year-end bonus (eligibility and amount determined based on company performance and performance evaluations)
・Promotions twice a year (determined based on performance evaluations)

*Salary will be determined based on company regulations, taking into account your previous annual income and experience, and is not limited to the figures listed above.

■ Working Hours
Flexible work hours or managerial/supervisory position
・Flexible work schedule
Standard daily working hours: 8 hours; Break: 1 hour
Core hours: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Flexible hours…6:00–9:00 and 14:00–20:00; overtime work may occur

・Supervisors
Based on the working hours of the employee’s department; left to the employee’s discretion

■ Days Off and Leave
Two days off per week (Saturdays and Sundays; national holidays are workdays) Annual paid leave, special leave and bereavement leave, childcare and family care leave systems, etc.
*In addition to paid leave, special leave is granted in the first and second halves of the fiscal year (the number of days granted varies depending on employment status and the company to which the employee belongs)

■Insurance Coverage
Social Insurance (Health Insurance, Employees’ Pension Insurance, Employment Insurance, Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance)

■Employee Benefits
Employee stock ownership plan, mutual aid association, partner welfare programs, employee discount program, cafeteria, dedicated shuttle bus (for commuting to the Ariake Office), defined contribution pension plan (full-time employees only)

■Other
・We actively recruit mid-career professionals across various Group companies (Fast Retailing, UNIQLO, GU, etc.). We would appreciate it if you could review the information below and consider applying.
- You may apply to multiple companies within the Fast Retailing Group simultaneously. However, please note that even if the selection process proceeds at multiple companies, you can only advance to the final selection stage for one position at a time.
- Based on your submitted resume and interview performance, we may suggest other companies or positions within the Fast Retailing Group.
・Measures against secondhand smoke: Smoking is prohibited on the premises and indoors; we do not have designated smoking rooms. (Smoking is prohibited during working hours, including break times.)

Ariake Headquarters: 1-6-7 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, UNIQLO CITY

*Depending on business needs, you may be required to travel between offices.
*Your location may be changed to a location designated by the company, including overseas locations.