VP GMM

Vice President, General Merchandise Manager

Position Summary

The Vice President, General Merchandise Manager will lead the company’s merchandising, category management, planning, vendor partnership, and commercial buying strategy across all major retail categories. This is a senior leadership role responsible for driving sales, margin, inventory productivity, vendor economics, assortment relevance, and long-term category growth across a luxury airport retail environment.

This role will oversee the Divisional Merchandise Managers and their teams across multiple categories, including Fashion, Sunglasses & Jewelry; Beauty; and Liquor, Tobacco, Confectionery, Food & Gifts. The VP, GMM will lead a total category organization of approximately 15 people, including 3 DMM’s, and partner with the planning team that is responsible for open-to-buy management, forecasting, order placement, replenishment, inventory control, and business analytics.

Key Responsibilities

Merchandising & Category Leadership

• Lead the overall merchandising strategy across all major categories, ensuring each division has a clear commercial plan, differentiated assortment, and measurable financial objectives.
• Manage, coach, and develop DMMs, buyers, associate buyers, and category teams to strengthen business performance, vendor partnerships, talent capability, and accountability.
• Oversee category strategies for:
• Fashion, Sunglasses & Jewelry
• Beauty
• Liquor, Tobacco, Confectionery, Food & Gifts
• Ensure assortments are tailored to airport travelers, terminal passenger mix, brand positioning, local market opportunities, and duty free / travel retail dynamics.

Planning, Forecasting & Inventory Management

• Lead the planning organization responsible for open-to-buy, forward forecasting, order placement, replenishment, allocation, and inventory productivity.
• Partner with planning teams to improve sell-through, stock availability, inventory turns, aged inventory management, gross margin return on inventory, and working capital efficiency.
• Establish disciplined review processes for sales trends, category performance, vendor productivity, promotional effectiveness, and inventory risk.

Vendor Negotiation & Commercial Terms

• Lead senior-level negotiations with brand partners and vendors to improve the company’s financial results and the customer experience.
• Negotiate and improve terms including:
• Margin and wholesale cost
• Rebates and incentives
• Payment terms
• Shipping and logistics terms
• Brand staffing / demo support
• Capital contributions for store build-outs
• Marketing and promotional support
• Exclusives, launches, and limited-edition products
• Space, location, and rental fixture commitments

Space, Location & Business Development

• Lead commercial input into space planning, brand placement, category adjacencies, store concepts, and location strategy.
• Evaluate new category opportunities, brand partnerships, pop-ups, shop-in-shops, exclusive concepts, and business development initiatives.
• Partner with operations, finance, marketing, store planning, and executive leadership to support new openings, renovations, category expansions, and major commercial initiatives.

Strategic Pricing, Assortment & Market Positioning

• Own strategic pricing architecture across categories, ensuring competitiveness, margin delivery, and clear value proposition for airport travelers.
• Analyze competitive pricing, domestic market pricing, travel retail benchmarks, passenger demographics, and vendor economics to guide pricing and assortment decisions.
• Develop category strategies that balance luxury positioning, commercial productivity, duty free savings, brand equity, and customer conversion.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as the senior merchandising partner to Operations, Finance, Marketing, Store Planning, Supply Chain, and Executive Leadership.
• Ensure strong communication between buying, planning, warehouse, logistics, stores, and vendors.
• Represent the merchandising organization in executive meetings, vendor negotiations, business reviews, and strategic planning discussions.

Success Metrics / KPIs

• Total sales and category sales growth

• Gross margin dollars and margin rate

• Sales per passenger and conversion improvement

• Inventory turn and inventory productivity

• Open-to-buy accuracy and forecast accuracy

• Sell-through and aged inventory reduction

• Vendor funding, rebates, and contribution income

• Improved payment, shipping, margin, and commercial terms

• Space productivity and sales per square foot

• New brand launches, exclusives, and business development wins

• Team development, succession planning, and retention

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, merchandising, retail management, finance, or related field preferred.
• 10  years of progressive merchandising, buying, planning, or category management experience, preferably in luxury retail, travel retail, department stores, specialty retail, or airport retail.
• Proven experience leading senior category teams, DMMs, buyers, and planning functions.
• Strong vendor negotiation experience with demonstrated ability to improve commercial terms and build strategic brand partnerships.
• Deep understanding of assortment strategy, open-to-buy, forecasting, inventory management, pricing, margin management, and retail financial metrics.
• Experience across multiple categories preferred, including beauty, fashion, accessories, jewelry, liquor, tobacco, confectionery, food, gifts, or luxury goods.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to partner with senior leadership, vendors, landlords, airport stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.