Senior Director of Merchandising, Furniture

Job Summary

Develops and executes a strategic assortment for their planning category to maximize revenue, margin, and customer satisfaction. Oversees and manages vendor relationships for assigned merchandise. Guides the process of assessing and analyzing market intelligence to affect changes in product specifications and evaluate potential partner relationships. Analyzes supplier performance data and collaborates cross-functionally to improve merchandise sales performance.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES 

• Develops and executes strategic merchandising plans to maximize product sales and achieve profitability goals.  Ensures that individual merchandising plans align and compliment strategic business plans and corporate business strategies. 

• Develops merchandising category/sub-category assortment strategies within product portfolios and develops plans to achieve sales objectives.  Ensures merchandising teams follow assigned plans. 

• Reviews merchandising performance and provides solution-oriented recommendations for improvements  

• Gathers and evaluates business/sales data to identify opportunities to expand markets and manage potential challenges to the successful achievement of merchandising KPIs. 

• Researches opportunities to expand product offerings by assessing strategic assortment gaps, sourcing new products and new partners, and collaborating with partners to develop new products. 

• Develops and designs pricing strategies based on market variances, competitor pricing, and various other related factors. 

• Develops strategic plans to assess and engage preferred partners for assigned merchandise categories.  Manages strong external partner relationships to grow and achieve merchandising sales targets. 

• Evaluates operational costs of doing business with each suppliers/partner and updates/negotiates agreements for supplying merchandise based on partner performance and other relevant factors. 

• Implements partner sponsored sales/weekly deals/MAP promotions and site sales.  Integrates partner promotions into merchandising marketing plans and schedules. 

• Functions as the intermediary between suppliers/partners and various internal groups to coordinate various business plans and strategies.  Oversees collaboration with cross-functional and marketing channel teams to maintain focus on business goals and objectives and optimize spend/ROI. 

• Researches various product and suppliers/partners by attending trade shows, product demonstrations and markets updates.  Integrates updates into appropriate merchandising strategies. 

• Develops and executes operational priorities for each merchandise category.  Manages all operational requirements to maintain merchandising needs such as optimizing content, correcting attributes and SKUs, and updating MSRP, WISP, and MAP. 

• Follows prescribed legal guidelines and requirements. 

• Performs other job-related duties as assigned. 

Required Skills and Experience: 

• 10-12 years of merchandising, supplier/partner management, and/or retail planning experience managing procurement, demand forecasting and planning, and vendor relations preferably within eCommerce is required. 
• Must have demonstrated experience leading, developing, and managing team(s).
• Must demonstrate a proven track record taking on significant challenges, exceeding goals with the ability to collaborate across different functions and establish credibility among co-workers. 
• Must be proficient with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). 
• Must have strong analytical and quantitative skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with competing timelines effectively.  
• Must have proven ability to identify, analyze, and solve ambiguous, complex problems independently. 
• Must have proven ability to collaborate with others to understand and complete project goals. 
• Must be detail-oriented with proven experience developing and implementing online category strategies. 
• Must have excellent interpersonal and verbal and written communications skills and be able to professionally interact with employees at all levels of the company. 
• Must have excellent time management and decision-making skills and be able to prioritize and organize tasks and projects. 

Special Note to all employees who are managers or above: 

• Ability to influence people across the organization 

• Ability to coach your reports to grow a high-performance team 

• Experience hiring and leading diverse teams