Director, Merchandising & Category Management

Director, Merchandising & Category Management

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JOB SUMMARY

The Director of Merchandising & Product Category Management is responsible for the overall strategy and execution of product assortment, promotion, pricing, and placement in all categories to maximize sales and profit. They will lead a product category team that is responsible for developing the strategy online and in print, defining product assortment and initiating relevant consumer marketing and promotions that drive customer leads and conversion. This position is also responsible for vendor programs and business planning of products and vendors presented within our channels, leveraging vendor relationships and established business, and developing strategies for growing marketshare and profitability. 

 

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Product strategy and development: Lead team in developing customer

business strategies by category, refining assortments for each channel, identifying new

product/category opportunities.

Leadership: Coach and develop team to achieve goals, foster an environment

that promotes accountability, development, innovation, ownership, and high morale.

Primarily measured by sales dollars, margin dollars, margin percentage, net/net margin dollars and net/net margin percentage via: (a) company totals, (b) marketing channels, (c) product categories, (d) target markets and (e) individual category manager.

Also measured by: Staff development and individual contributions with their growing net value to the organization, and the overall strength of team.

Profitability management: Target vendors for profitability improvements via contract

negotiations, vendor consolidation/rationalization, stocking program creation, improved discount.

Leverage vendor programs for maximum profitability via opportunistic purchases and optimizing

rebate yield potential.

Reporting & Analytics: Analyze performance against plans by category, vendor and channel.

Evaluate product performance and develop necessary strategies to meet overall sales and

profitability targets

Channel Management: Develop product assortments that are relevant to ecommerce, sales, and marketplace customers; partnering with teams to ensure execution and availability

for maximum sales and turnover. Work across all channels to improve customer experience, drive

traffic, conversion, and enhance the brand image and vision. Work collaboratively to create a

multi-channel cooperation and achieve overall financial goals for the brand.

Pricing & Promotions Strategy: Develop processes and practices around pricing promotions

to meet sales and margin targets. Establishes pricing strategies by channel. Develop and

implement product pricing strategies to maximize both competitive positioning as well as overall

profitability.

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5 years of product category experience required, with three or more years
• in a leadership role.
•  Must have demonstrated experience leading, developing, and managing
• teams, experience in managing remote teams preferred.
• Experience in B2B ecommerce merchandising.
•  Leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop staff to fullest
• potential while instilling a team environment both inside and outside of
• the departmental boundaries
• Consistent and proven history in strategic vendor negotiations
• Analytical and data driven- able to synthesize large amounts of data to
• actionable strategies- capable of data mining (Power BI or other reporting
• tools)
• Must have strong analytical and quantitative skills with the ability to
• manage multiple projects simultaneously with competing timelines
• effectively.
• Ability to plan, prepare, and execute strategic business plans.
• Strong attention to detail that drives the big picture.
• A track record of innovative thinking that drives growth through new
• revenue sources or significant share increases
• Must be proficient with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and
• PowerPoint), experience in Power BI preferred.
• Must have excellent interpersonal and verbal and written communications
• skills and be able to professionally interact with others both internally and
• externally
• Ability to travel as required