Director, Merchandising Operations

Job Summary: 

The Director, Merchandising Operations is responsible for leading cross-functional teams in the strategic management of pricing, systems, reporting, processes, projects and initiatives with a focus on maximizing opportunities, automation and improving efficiency. This role will report directly to the Senior Vice President, Merchandising and be heavily focused on building margin, gross profit, and supporting sales growth with an overarching high-level goal of increasing EBITDA for the company. This person is an experienced project manager that will lead the facilitation, planning and implementation of projects and strategic initiatives for the Merchandising team, and ensure the execution and alignment of the Merchandising process across all departments. 

Job Expectations / Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Establish, lead and maintain measurable performance metrics for margin, pricing, key business reports

• Lead and coordinate projects and associated activities, define deliverables and milestones; ensure follow up on all key initiatives as related to project management, systems assessments in order to stay competitive and produce positive company results

• Support the annual long range planning process with strategic thought in partnership with the SVP and Merchandising to initiate and execute against that vision and direction

• Evaluate, enhance and proactively lead the Pricing Team to consistently evaluate the strategy through directive documentation, communication, workflow creation, training and management of Pricing Portal. 

• Evaluate, streamline and manage the vendor funding, rebate strategy and processes ensuring timely collection and end of month financial reporting 

• Partner and manage projects in collaboration with IT related to Merchandising Team and support implementation

• Manage SAP through PIR (vendor quote) and price variance training and management 

• Ensure SOX compliance for the processes, systems and reports

• Track, calendar, and measure progress of annual department goals and seasonal milestones

• Develop detailed project plans, implementation schedules, resource plans and budgets for key meetings

• Lead team in support of work flow, execution of timelines and milestones needed to execute on-time delivery as related to operational buying team inventory initiatives such as SKU rationalization, GAP analysis, Product Data & Status Management, Sell thru Management, Excess, At-Risk and Short-Dated tracking and reduction 

• Mentor and support skill and career growth and development of direct and indirect reports; including the support of team SOPs and guides management, project management and coordination, legal processes, Prop 65 processes, new systems development, process and automation development and maintenance

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

   Required:

• Ability to coordinate multiple group efforts within the company to achieve objectives

• Data analysis and pricing strategy background  

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills 

• Ability to handle multiple tasks, with awareness of deadlines, in a fast-paced business environment

• Ability to identify processes needing improvement, and to recommend improvements

• Strong negotiation skills, influencing abilities and relationship management

• Strong interpersonal skills including analytical, problem solving, organizational, issue resolution relationship management 

• Strong leadership and executive presence with the ability to influence across the organization, particularity around strategic issues and change management to bring structured, organized workflow to multi-layer team with cross functional dependencies

• Proven ability to meet deadlines and operate under tight time constraints with a strong sense of urgency

• Technical aptitude and high learning agility

• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel (advanced level), PowerPoint)

• Experience with Google Business Suite (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms) preferred

• Experience with systems management (Ariba, S4/Hana, JIRA, Catalog, Pricing Portal, Promo Manager, Asana, Docusign and Engage 3) preferred

• SQL experience a plus

• Experience with website programs/logic such as automated discounts, A&S, Quantity limit, preferred

Experience Requirements:

Generally requires a minimum of eight (8) to ten (10) years progressive experience in Operations related to Merchandising, Purchasing, Supply Chain functions with extensive experience in an e-commerce environment, preferably in a strategic setting in a mid to large size organization. 

Education Requirements: 

Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Supply Chain preferred or a combination of direct experience and/or education is required.

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