Director Automotive Aftermarket Merchandising

What you will do

The Director, Automotive Aftermarket Merchandising is responsible for leading the strategy, merchandising, and growth of Safelite's portfolio of non-glass automotive products and services. This leader will bring a strong retail merchant mindset and automotive aftermarket experience to identify opportunities to create additional customer value, expand revenue streams, improve business performance, and strengthen Safelite's competitive position. This role combines merchandising and category leadership, strategic vision, customer and market insight, and operational excellence to drive meaningful business outcomes. The Director will shape assortment and portfolio strategy, optimize existing offerings, and identify and evaluate new products, services, suppliers, and partnerships that support profitable, long-term growth. Working across Customer Experience, Operations, Digital, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and Technology, this individual will influence enterprise priorities, align cross-functional teams, and lead initiatives from concept through commercialization, execution, and performance optimization. The ideal candidate is a retail merchant with automotive aftermarket experience who understands how customer needs, category trends, competitive dynamics, assortment, pricing, and performance come together to drive growth. This leader is commercially minded, customer focused, highly collaborative, and able to translate market opportunities into measurable business results.

Product Portfolio Growth Leadership

Own the strategy, merchandising, performance, and growth of Safelite's portfolio of non-glass automotive products and services.Establish portfolio and category priorities and evaluate opportunities for assortment expansion, optimization, and innovation based on customer needs, automotive aftermarket trends, competitive dynamics, and business performance.Develop recommendations regarding assortment, pricing, positioning, investment, resource allocation, and initiative sequencing to maximize customer value and business impact.Monitor category and portfolio performance against key departmental objectives and performance metrics, making recommendations and adjustments as needed.Maintain executive-level visibility into portfolio performance, risks, dependencies, and growth opportunities; communicate implications and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

Maintain a holistic understanding of product and service offerings, category performance, execution models, and customer journey impact.Oversee portfolio and category performance to identify growth opportunities, systemic execution gaps, emerging risks, and opportunities for improvement.Drive alignment on corrective actions and merchandising solutions that improve customer and business outcomes.Establish and monitor key performance indicators and connect portfolio performance to broader enterprise objectives.Own the portfolio performance narrative, linking merchandising and growth initiatives to business results and customer impact.Communicate clearly with senior leaders how products and services contribute to customer experience, growth, and overall business performance.Look beyond functional metrics to understand and influence enterprise-level outcomes and identify opportunities for broader value creation.

Enterprise Strategy, Alignment & Cross-Functional Leadership

Lead the development of departmental strategy, goals, and long-term growth plans.Partner with senior leaders to establish annual and multi-year business priorities.Articulate a clear and compelling vision for category and portfolio growth aligned with enterprise strategy.Build and sustain trusted relationships across the organization, including Customer Experience, Digital, Contact Center, Field Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, and Technology.Influence cross-functional partners to drive alignment, enable collaboration, and accelerate progress toward shared goals.Partner across functions to support the successful commercialization and scaling of products and services.Lead strategic planning and performance discussions to ensure accountability and alignment across teams.Serve as a visible enterprise leader and advocate for the portfolio, driving clarity, engagement, and momentum.

Market Growth, Innovation & Portfolio Evolution

Maintain a forward-looking understanding of customer needs, automotive aftermarket trends, competitive dynamics, category performance, and emerging opportunities.Identify and evaluate new products, services, categories, suppliers, partnerships, and growth opportunities that support enterprise objectives.Develop business cases and strategic recommendations for portfolio expansion, category development, and innovation initiatives.Evaluate potential offerings through a merchant and customer lens, considering customer relevance, market opportunity, financial potential, operational feasibility, and strategic fit.Build effective relationships with external suppliers, manufacturers, and strategic partners, as applicable, to identify and advance growth opportunities.Champion a culture of customer-focused innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement.Challenge the status quo and ensure the portfolio continues to evolve to meet changing customer expectations, automotive aftermarket trends, and business needs.

Other Duties

Perform other duties as assigned.Comply with all company policies, practices, and standards.

Education Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience

Qualifications

7-9 years of experience leading retail merchandising, category management, strategic initiatives, product portfolios, customer solutions, business development programs, growth strategies, or related business functions.Demonstrated retail merchandising or category management experience within the automotive aftermarket, including consumer-facing automotive products, services, parts, accessories, or related categories.Proven success driving category or portfolio growth, improving performance, and delivering measurable business outcomes.Experience using customer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, and performance data to inform merchandising and commercial decisions.Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives and influencing stakeholders across multiple levels of an organization.

Skills and Abilities

Strong merchant mindset with the ability to identify customer needs and translate them into compelling product, service, category, and assortment strategies.Knowledge of the automotive aftermarket landscape, including consumer trends, competitive dynamics, products, services, and category opportunities.Proven track record of driving growth across products, services, categories, customer solutions, or business portfolios.Experience translating customer, market, and competitive insights into actionable business and merchandising strategies.Ability to evaluate assortment, pricing, positioning, supplier or partner opportunities, and category performance to inform commercial decisions.Strong analytical skills and experience leveraging data to drive decision-making.Experience with analytics and reporting tools such as Snowflake, Tableau, Power BI, or similar platforms.Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.Strong executive presence with the ability to build relationships and influence without direct authority.Ability to think strategically while driving execution and measurable results.Experience identifying and evaluating new growth opportunities, products, services, categories, and partnerships.Experience with testing methodologies, experimentation, and data-driven optimization.Strong organizational, prioritization, and problem-solving capabilities.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Safelite welcomes everyone. We value our diverse workforce and suppliers, and we're proud to be an equal opportunity employer.We don't discriminate on the basis of any characteristic protected by law, nor do we tolerate discrimination or harassment against our associates and clients.

Company Information

Safelite® was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1947. A leading service organization, the Safelite family of brands delivers our People Powered, Customer Driven experience to more than 11 million customers annually.Safelite® AutoGlass, the nation's largest provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement and recalibration services, operates more than 700 stores and 7,900 MobileGlassShops™ across all 50 U.S. states, while Safelite® Solutions provides property and casualty claims management services to more than 175 insurance and fleet clients.All of this is supported through our technology-forward supply chain and corporate services.We're People Powered: Our people come first. We care about your well-being and we'll give you what you need to have a happy work/life.We're good at what we do: we're proud of our 88% Net Promoter Score (NPS).We're big: We're owned by Belron®, the world's largest vehicle glass company, spanning 40 countries across 6 continents.We're trustworthy: We provide coverage to all U.S. drivers in all 50 states.We give back: Community service is important to us – we've even recycled 107K+ tons of glass to date.

Accessibility

Upon request and consistent with applicable laws, Safelite will provide reasonable accommodations to individuals who need assistance in the application/hiring process.

Privacy

To review and consider your application, Safelite collects personal information. To understand what is collected and why, carefully review the Applicant Privacy Notice presented during your online application and/or review our Applicant Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Agency Policy

Safelite does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach from third-party recruiters.Absent a signed MSA and approval and request from Talent Acquisition to submit resumes for a specific requisition, we will not approve payment to any third party.

Health and Safety

To ensure a safe working environment and protect the community at large, depending on the position, Safelite may require pre-employment screenings, including background checks and/or drug screenings, attestation of COVID-19 vaccination status, and precautions against COVID-19 in select work settings, subject to all applicable local, state and federal laws. Safelite will grant reasonable accommodations that do not cause an undue hardship to the business to legally entitled associates.