Director, Merchandising

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

The Director of Product Merchandising is a strategic leader responsible for driving merchandising excellence through informed assortment planning, Open-to-Buy (OTB) creation, and seasonal business strategy. This role ensures that product assortments are compelling, financially sound, and aligned with the brand’s positioning and customer expectations. This role oversees a team of merchandise professionals. This role also collaborates closely with Marketing, Ecomm, and Retail to activate seasonal assortment across all customer touchpoints.

 

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Seasonal Planning Oversight

• Provide strategic direction for the development of seasonal merchandising plans, including category strategies, channel distribution, and key product stories.
• Oversee the team’s creation of seasonal Open-to-Buy (OTB) frameworks that support revenue, margin, and inventory goals.
• Guide initial seasonal planning and hindsight processes, ensuring data-driven insights and market trends are incorporated into assortment decisions.
• Set strategic objectives and guardrails for seasonal line plans and product flows.

Assortment Strategy & Product Architecture

• Lead the team in building customer-focused assortments that reflect category goals, price architecture, and channel-specific needs.
• Ensure seasonal assortments align with overarching brand and financial strategies through consistent reviews and checkpoints.
• Drive high-level decisions on SKU count, lifecycle planning, and key item development across categories.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Serve as the senior merchandising voice in cross-functional meetings, ensuring alignment between merchandising goals and business-wide strategies.
• Partner closely with the Buying to support and inform the seasonal management of OTB, providing strategic guidance and alignment on investment strategies and in-season decisions that drive financial and merchandising goals.
• Partner with Ecommerce, Retail, and Marketing leadership to ensure seasonal product stories are aligned across all channels and platforms.

Performance Monitoring & Business Insights

• Review team reporting and analysis to monitor sales, margin, inventory health, and category performance.
• Lead the strategic response to risks and opportunities surfaced through hindsight reviews and in-season performance data.
• Empower the team to recommend in-season adjustments to maximize financial performance and customer relevance.

Team Development & Leadership

• Manage, coach, and mentor a team of merchants and visual merchandising professionals.
• Foster a high-performing, collaborative, and customer-focused culture.
• Ensure the team is equipped with tools, processes, and training needed to execute at a high level.
• Champion cross-functional visibility and development for team members.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in merchandising or buying, with at least 3 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing merchandising and visual merchandising teams.
• Strong understanding of Open-to-Buy creation, seasonal planning, and assortment architecture.
• Demonstrated success overseeing merchandising across retail and ecommerce environments.
• Excellent cross-functional leadership, strategic thinking, and communication skills.
• High proficiency in retail metrics, Excel, and planning/BI systems.