Merchandise Manager

Summary/Objective: 

The Merchandise Manager is responsible for leading the merchandising team in developing, executing, and communicating an Assortment Architecture that speaks to the Vici customer through relevant trends and exceptional price value. The Merchandise Manager is responsible for curating an assortment that delivers upon all KPI targets in addition to supporting head to toe assortments tied to daily and weekly aligned upon trends.  This role is integral to driving sales and profit plan and requires a highly collaborative individual who thrives on agility in a cross-functional role.  

Essential Functions: 

·          The Merchandise Manager will be responsible for a commercially sound product strategy and assortment plan that will be on-trend and representative of the Vici Customer tastes in addition to an appropriate price/value relationship. 

·          Develop and execute a merchandise assortment plan that supports the financial, merchandising, tand marketing objectives for seasonal product concepts, key items, promotional strategies, and assortments mix.  

·          Responsible to co-create Vici exclusive product with select vendor partners.  Product developed in line with quarterly trends, supplemented by product tears provided by the buying team.  Responsible to ensure quality of product is in line with expectations & price of product through PP approvals. 

·          Responsible to ensure P2M calendar is followed to maintain all agreed upon deadlines to support the delivery of product at the right time. 

·          Responsible to lead a team to buy 7,000+ skus per year across apparel and non-apparel.  Directly responsible to buy 1,800+ skus per year within Dresses & Jumpsuits. 

·          Deliver to OTB goals- sales, inventory, cost, sku and margin objectives. 

·          Analyze and manage in season performance keeping a pulse on customers’ needs and emerging trends; utilizes learnings to inform in-season and future season actions, strategies, assortments and chase. 

·          Drives business recaps, performance, and forward-looking action plans. Review weekly sales performance to identify potential reorders, identify potential RTVs, and recommend styles for markdowns/promotions.   

·          Hindsight performance post-season to identify hits and misses and build future season strategy. 

·          Have expert knowledge on the VICI customer and competitor activities; maintains a strong pulse on current trends and the fashion zeitgeist. 

·          Set product and category level pricing recommendations and strategies to align with financial plans. 

·          Build and maintain strong vendor relationships.  

·          Lead the total buying team through developing enhanced processes, visibility, and tools to help to deliver both results as well as efficiencies for the team. 

·          Partner and collaborate directly with planning team on developing pre-season strategies to win in addition to reacting to in-season learnings.   

·          May support SVP of Merchandising & Planning with special projects tied to assortment architecture, vendor strategies, marketing initiatives, and more. 

·          Drive Vendor Negotiations across product quality, purchase quantity, landed cost, and delivery (and RTV’s) 

·          Partner with Site Merchandising to determine featured categories and products to support sales and inventory initiatives.   

·          Responsible to curate, style out, and share monthly product assortments & strategies to cross functional teams across marketing, site, photo studio, and finance.  Share-out meant to outline seasonal strategies to deliver financial results for the time frame and to provide cross functional teams with inspiration and adequate details to allow them to effectively drive the business within their channels. 

·          Lead and develop junior buying team members, effectively communicating priorities and ensuring workflow management delivers to deadlines.  

·          Travel as needed. 

Competencies: 

·        Deep experience in women’s apparel, with a proven track record of delivery to company KPI’s 

·        Experience in buying product across wide range of vendors.  Experience in LA Mart is preferred. 

·        Experience developing product alongside either in-house team or directly with vendor partners. 

·        Passion for and understanding of the Vici customer and how to best serve her. 

·        High taste level, with broad market and fashion knowledge, ability to translate trends into commercially viable revenue streams. 

·        Excellent analytical, time management and organization skills; meticulous attention to detail 

·        Demonstrates a high degree of personal and professional integrity. 

·        Thrives working in a fast-paced agile environment with shifting priorities. 

·        Ability to work collaboratively across different groups to advance company objectives. 

·        Skilled at communicating clearly both verbally and in writing. 

·        Excellent problem-solving skills: willingness to think out-of-the-box to resolve issues. 

·        Strong analytical skills; demonstrated proficiency working with large data sets. 

·        Must have advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel 

·        Ability to read, write, speak and understand the English language fluently, and communicate verbally and in writing at a professional level. 

·        Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency with Microsoft Office, Mac and Google products. 

·        Knowledge of standard applications (Slack, Office365, Chrome, etc.) 

Work Environment: 

·        Works in an indoor office/home office environment, temperature controlled. 

·        Sit for long periods, standing and walking intermittently. 

·        Use office equipment such as computer, mouse, keyboard, printer.  

Education and Experience: 

·        Bachelor’s Degree in related field (or equivalent work experience). 

·        8+ years prior experience in retail/ecommerce merchandising and buying.  

·        5+ years of management experience. 

Expected Hours of Work: 

This is a full-time position with 3 days in office and potentially traveling to WC, as needed.