Managing Director (100%)

The Board of Directors of NIKIN AG is looking for an entrepreneurial and strong leader to shape the next 10 years of NIKIN together with the operational team.

We are looking for a Managing Director who will take responsibility, provide orientation, make decisions, and ensure that NIKIN grows sustainably, operates profitably, and becomes even more relevant as a brand.

Your Role

You will connect product, brand, and commercial strategy to lay the groundwork for NIKIN's next growth phase. You will bring in new ideas, foster innovation, and consistently develop products, business models, and the organization. To do this, you will combine strategic clarity with operational implementation, commercial thinking with brand understanding, and entrepreneurial responsibility with a strong, trust-based leadership culture.

You don't have to do everything yourself. But you need to know what's crucial, recruit good people for it, and consistently ensure it gets done.

Your Responsibilities

Strategy + Leadership

  • Together with the Executive Board and Board of Directors, you will define the most important strategic and operational priorities.
  • You will create clarity about what is important now – and what is deliberately not.
  • You will communicate priorities regularly and clearly both inside and outside the organization.
  • You will monitor progress, measure impact, and consistently adjust priorities as the situation changes.

Growth + Brand

  • You will be responsible for commercial performance together with the Executive Board.
  • You will understand the brand as a strategic company asset and ensure that positioning, products, communication, partnerships, and customer experience create a consistent overall picture.
  • You will connect product strategy and commercial strategy and understand which products and collections suit the brand and the needs of our customers, while also being economically successful.
  • You will further develop NIKIN as a brand and strengthen its positioning and relevance across all relevant channels.
  • You will understand the mechanisms of product, collection, pricing, wholesale, retail, e-commerce, marketing, and distribution and bring them together into a functioning overall picture.
  • You will consistently question and further develop assortment, collection, pricing, margins, quantities, and sales channels together with those responsible.
  • You will recognize market opportunities early and translate them into concrete business opportunities.

Finance + Profitability

  • You will keep an eye on the company's economic development at all times.
  • Together with the CFO, you will monitor the relevant financial figures and consistently steer towards sustainable profitability.
  • You will understand the connection between growth, margin, inventory, working capital, cash, and profitability and consistently incorporate these factors into your decisions.
  • You will make decisions based on numbers and combine financial discipline with entrepreneurial drive.

Innovation + Business Model

  • You will initiate innovations and drive the further development of the business model.
  • You will promote innovation, especially in product, distribution, brand, and business model, and ensure that this creates concrete added value for customers, the brand, and the company.
  • You will question existing structures, products, and processes and actively search for better solutions.
  • You will bring new perspectives into the organization and ensure that NIKIN continuously develops.

Stakeholders + Partnerships

  • You will lead important negotiations and discussions with customers, partners, and other stakeholders – especially in B2B, wholesale, and B2C.
  • You will build long-term relationships and confidently represent NIKIN externally.
  • You will mandate and lead external partners, agencies, and service providers in coordination with the Executive Board.

Organization + People

  • Together with the Executive Board, you will ensure that the right people are in the right roles.
  • You will define, fill, and change responsibilities and project teams when necessary for the company's development.
  • You will set clear professional and personal expectations and regularly review performance and development.
  • You will have high standards for operational excellence, quality, speed, and commitment, and create clear responsibilities and efficient processes without building unnecessary bureaucracy.
  • You will ensure that good ideas are not only generated but consistently and reliably implemented.
  • You will provide honest, constructive, and regular feedback.
  • You will develop people, demand performance, and at the same time create an environment where people enjoy taking responsibility.
  • You will strengthen trust, collaboration, and NIKIN's values at all levels of the organization.

What you need to bring

Deep understanding of the textile and fashion industry

  • A solid professional background in the textile, fashion, apparel, or related consumer goods industry is mandatory for this role.
  • You understand the value chain from product and procurement, through collection, production, and quality, to pricing, wholesale, retail, e-commerce, marketing, and distribution.
  • You know the dynamics of margins, inventory, working capital, seasonality, and demand, and how quickly trends and customer needs can change.
  • You have a robust network and a realistic view of the industry. You know how brands are successfully built, where the levers are, and which ideas work commercially.
  • You understand how strong brands are built, managed, and kept relevant in the long term. You have a keen sense of positioning, product, communication, and customer experience and can assess what strengthens a brand and what dilutes it.
  • You particularly understand the interplay between product, brand, and commercial success and have already held responsibility for significant parts of this interplay.

Entrepreneur

  • You identify problems, make decisions, and implement them.
  • You think in terms of opportunities, consequences, and results. You can think strategically without getting lost in strategy.
  • You are willing to go into detail yourself, be hands-on when necessary, and at the same time consistently delegate responsibility.
  • Ideally, you have experience leading companies, brands, or business units through phases of change and sustainably developing their growth, profitability, or operational performance.
  • You can translate strategies into concrete priorities, responsibilities, and measures and consistently ensure their implementation.

Commercial Drive

  • You enjoy developing businesses and achieving results.
  • Revenue alone is not enough for you. You understand the connection between growth, margin, cash, and profitability and strive to sustainably improve these metrics.
  • You are customer-centric, market- and data-driven, and at the same time strong enough to make decisions even when not all information is available.
  • You do not view product in isolation, but as a central commercial lever, and can connect product decisions with demand, pricing, margin, quantities, and distribution.

Brand Understanding

  • You understand that NIKIN is more than a product and sales business. A strong brand is created through consistency, relevance, and credibility.
  • You can connect commercial goals with a brand image and have a good sense of what fits the brand – and what doesn't.
  • You can curate and develop a brand from A to Z and are also willing to forego opportunities if they harm the long-term brand.

Humanity

  • You are a leader who creates clarity without confusing firmness with leadership.
  • You can inspire people, but also make uncomfortable decisions. You provide orientation, demand responsibility, and address things directly.
  • You bring a high level of social competence, self-reflection, and empathy. You understand that trust is not created by harmony, but by reliability, transparency, and action.
  • You combine high standards of performance and quality with a culture where people are given trust and enjoy taking responsibility.

Our Values

  • Respectful
  • Fair
  • Open
  • Honest
  • Down-to-earth
  • Courageous
  • Innovative
  • Execution-driven
  • Uncomplicated
  • Optimistic
  • Positive
  • Consistent

Application

The process will be led by our Board of Directors. Please apply directly via gf (at) nikin.ch

Apply now