Director of Merchandising

Description Job Description – Director of Merchandising Reports To: VP of E-Commerce Location: Chico, CA Headquarters - open to remote for the right candidate Position Summary The Director of Merchandising leads the strategic transformation and day-to-day operation of AMain.com’s merchandising, product content, third-party marketplace, and visual merchandising functions. This role is accountable for re-architecting the legacy Copywriting department into two purpose-built teams—Product Data and Merchandising—and elevating Photography into a true Visual Merchandising discipline. Reporting to the VP of E-Commerce, the Director will partner closely with the broader E-Commerce, Reporting, and Inventory/Supply Chain teams to drive site conversion, marketplace growth, catalog quality, and a best-in-class customer product experience across AMain's owned digital properties and third-party channels. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN & TRANSFORMATION Department transformation: Lead the transition of the existing Copywriting department into two distinct, purpose-built functions: a Product Data team focused on catalog quality and a Merchandising team focused on commercial outcomes. Visual merchandising evolution: Reimagine the current Photography function as a Visual Merchandising team responsible for product imagery, lifestyle and video assets, and on-site visual storytelling. Roles & RACI: Redefine roles, responsibilities, workflows, and decision rights across all four teams; document new SOPs and handoffs with E-Commerce, Inventory, and Marketing. Change management: Lead the people side of the transformation—communication, coaching, role mapping, and retention—so the change lands well with the existing team. Org build-out: Partner with HR on leveling, comp structure, and career paths for the newly defined functions. PRODUCT DATA & CATALOG MANAGEMENT Data standards documentation: Build and maintain a product data style guide — title formula, description requirements, required attributes by product type, and image standards. This is the rulebook every person who touches product data works from. Data quality & governance: Own product data quality, taxonomy, attribution, and cross-channel content standards across AMain.com and third-party marketplaces. PIM strategy: Set the long-term Product Information Management strategy and operating model; partner with IT/Engineering on tooling decisions and integrations. New item onboarding: Establish and hold SLAs for time-to-publish on new items, ensuring accurate attribution and complete content at launch. Catalog completeness: Drive measurable improvements in coverage of required attributes, imagery, copy, and category mapping across the existing catalog. ONSITE MERCHANDISING Site experience: Drive performance of category pages, PDPs, search, navigation, and on-site recommendations to grow conversion, AOV, and attach rate. Promotional execution: Plan and execute on-site promotions, hero placements, and category storytelling that align with inventory position and margin goals. Test & learn: Build a disciplined merchandising test-and-learn agenda with the E-Commerce team to continuously improve commercial outcomes. Measurement baseline: Establish baseline metrics for category conversion rate, search conversion rate, zero-result rate, and filter usage. Every merchandising decision after that is evaluated against these baselines. THIRD-PARTY MARKETPLACES Channel leadership: Oversee the Manager of Third-Party Marketplaces and set strategy across Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other relevant channels. Listings & content: Own listing quality, content syndication, A+/Enhanced Brand Content, and channel-specific merchandising standards. Channel economics: Partner with Finance and Inventory on channel margin, fee management, and FBA/MCF/3PL allocation decisions. Growth & expansion: Identify and prioritize new channel, program, and geographic opportunities aligned with AMain's strategic plan. VISUAL MERCHANDISING Creative standards: Set and enforce creative standards for product photography, lifestyle imagery, and video across the catalog and brand. Studio operations: Drive studio throughput, shot productivity, and cost-per-asset; build the production calendar against new‑item flow and merchandising priorities. Brand alignment: Align visual output with brand strategy, category positioning, and the broader site experience. Shot list standard: Define a required shot list per product type — white background hero, front‑on, scale reference, in‑use/lifestyle, and what's‑in‑the‑box. The goal is images that answer customer questions before they ask them, not just consistent angles. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION Inventory & supply chain: Work closely with Shawn Ireland’s team on inventory health, sell‑through, OOS recovery, and overstock plans—ensuring merchandising decisions reflect the true inventory position. Marketing alignment: Coordinate with Marketing on storytelling, campaign assets, vendor co‑op execution, and on‑site/off‑site alignment. E‑Commerce & Dev: Serve as primary product owner for merchandising‑related development work translating business needs (sort logic, schema, category architecture) into clear technical requirements. SEO & Discoverability Organic discoverability: Own or directly partner on AMain's organic search performance ensuring product data, category structure, and schema markup translate to discoverability, not just on‑site conversion. Structured data (schema): Ensure product, breadcrumb, review, and organization schema is implemented correctly and comprehensively. AMain's rich results are a competitive advantage protect and expand them. Search Console monitoring: Own or assign daily monitoring of Google Search Console across all sites — indexing health, rich result errors, crawl anomalies, and CTR performance. Competitive discoverability: Maintain awareness of how AMain ranks vs. key competitors on target product queries and use this to prioritize content and category work. Requirements 8-10+ years of e-commerce merchandising experience with progressive leadership responsibility 3+ years leading multi‑team or multi‑function organizations at the manager‑of‑managers level Demonstrated third‑party marketplace experience (Amazon, eBay, Walmart, or comparable channels), including listings, content, and channel economics Hands‑on experience with PIM systems, product data governance, taxonomy, and attribution Visual merchandising, studio, or creative direction experience—either as a direct discipline owner or through close partnership with a creative team Proven success leading organizational change: redesigning roles, evolving teams, and managing the people side of transformation Strong commercial and analytical fluency; comfort owning a P&L or P&L‑adjacent KPI set Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS Background in hobby, specialty retail, enthusiast, or category‑led businesses Data‑driven decision maker who sets clear scorecards and operates against them Strong cross‑functional collaborator—able to influence E‑Commerce, Inventory, Marketing, and Finance peers Builder of leaders; coaches managers and develops talent through change Operates well in entrepreneurial, fast‑evolving environments and helps install operating discipline Bias to action with a thoughtful, structured approach to org‑design problems JOB CONDITIONS Office environment; onsite at AMain HQ in Chico, CA Some travel may be required (vendor visits, marketplace events, HobbyTown corporate stores, industry shows) #J-18808-Ljbffr