Director of Inventory Management

Director of Inventory

Location: Ogden, Utah

About the Role

We're looking for a Director of Inventory to ensure we have the right product, in the right place, at the right time — and that we act decisively when we don't. This role owns inventory health across all channels: DTC (Shopify, TikTok Shop), Amazon, and retail partners including Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Academy Sports, and others.

The core problem you're solving: too much inventory sitting in the wrong spots, and not enough visibility into when and where we're headed toward stockouts. You'll work directly with our Supply Planning and Demand Planning teams to close those gaps — flagging risk early, recommending action, and making sure nothing ages out because nobody was watching.

You'll also own our discount and markdown strategy — recommending pricing actions based on sell-through rates, inventory turns, age, and channel-level margin exposure. The goal is intentional inventory movement, not reactive liquidation.

What You'll Do

Inventory Positioning & Visibility

• Own a clear, real-time picture of inventory health across every channel and warehouse location
• Identify where inventory is building up in the wrong spots — wrong channel, wrong warehouse, wrong SKU mix — and drive reallocation before it becomes a write-off
• Build and maintain dashboards that track inventory by SKU, channel, age, velocity, and capital exposure
• Ensure inventory data is accurate and consistent across NetSuite, supplier portals, and BigQuery

Stockout Prevention & Coordination

• Partner with Demand Planning and Supply Planning to surface stockout risk early — before it hits the customer
• Track sell-through by SKU and channel, flag velocity changes, and escalate when replenishment timelines don't match demand signals
• Own a weekly inventory risk review that highlights both excess and shortage positions with clear recommended actions
• Serve as the connective tissue between demand forecasts, inbound supply timelines, and real-time sell-through

Discount, Markdown & Channel Reallocation Strategy

• Recommend markdowns, promotions, bundling, and channel shifts based on inventory turns, sell-through rate, age, and margin
• Build a structured framework for when and how deeply to discount — with clear triggers tied to aging thresholds and velocity decay
• Coordinate cross-functionally with Marketing, Sales, and Finance on promotional timing and margin validation
• Ensure discount decisions are proactive and margin-aware, not last-resort fire sales

Lifecycle & Exit Management

• Track lifecycle stage for every SKU (Launch, Growth, Mature, Slow, Exit) and ensure no SKU sits in "slow" status without an action plan
• Build wind-down playbooks for seasonal products, limited editions, packaging transitions, and discontinued SKUs
• Drive SKU rationalization — if something isn't earning its shelf space, surface it and recommend next steps

Data Accuracy & Systems

• Own the accuracy of inventory, sales, and inbound PO data across systems
• Build automated alerts for aging thresholds, velocity drops, no-movement SKUs, and system discrepancies
• Partner with the Systems team on daily validation checks between supplier portals, ERP, and BigQuery
• Reduce reliance on manual audits by building predictive and automated controls

Basic Qualifications

• 7 years in inventory management, merchandise planning, or inventory strategy
• Direct experience in multi-channel retail — specifically managing inventory across DTC, Amazon, and brick-and-mortar retail accounts
• Proven track record of using sell-through, turns, and aging data to drive markdown and discount decisions
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel and ERP systems (NetSuite preferred)
• Experience working with or alongside demand planning and supply planning teams in an S&OP environment
• Experience building dashboards, automated alerts, and reporting for inventory health

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in consumer products, drinkware, hardgoods, or accessories
• SQL or BI tool experience (BigQuery, Looker, Tableau, Power BI)
• Familiarity with retail replenishment cycles and retail partner inventory requirements
• Background in markdown optimization and liquidation channel strategy
• Experience in high-growth businesses scaling through new retail distribution

Key Success Metrics

• Excess inventory as a % of total — by channel and by SKU
• Stockout rate and time-to-flag for shortage risk
• Inventory turns improvement
• Age profile (% of inventory beyond target aging thresholds)
• Obsolescence write-offs
• Time from "slow" classification to action taken
• Margin impact from discount and markdown timing
• Forecast-to-inventory alignment accuracy
• Capital at risk by lifecycle stage