Merchandise Manager

Contemporary womenswear brand is looking for a highly analytical and detail-obsessed Director of Merchandising.

A successful candidate will have a keen sense of trend and keen foresight. Looking for one coming from elevated women's RTW background.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Demonstrate and build collaborative relationships with the executive team, design, production, marketing, and finance.
• Researches and communicates shifts in the competitive market through trends, pricing, and emerging product categories.
• Understanding the retail and wholesale calendar and ability to maximize efficiency of calendar for retail, direct and wholesale business.

• Understand trend analysis and translate trend to big ideas with the ability to identify the next big thing.
• Present pre-season strategy to cross-functional teams.
• Partner with finance and planning to strategize budget and departmental opportunities.
• Analyze seasonal and hindsight information, trends, product assortment, and competition to develop the strategy.
• Partner with the Design team and provide feedback on concepts, board reviews, silhouettes, fabric, and color based on seasonal and annual hindsight.
• Build Roadmap for design articulating newness needs by month with AUC targets, as well as clear direction on carry forward products (where updates or new colors are needed).
• Approve garment fit on key products/buys and ensure product execution meets the design aesthetic as well as commercially acceptable quality standards.
• Utilize product strategies and analytical results to plan all merchandise buys, in accordance to budget, for each quarter and present the line at assortment and investment reviews.

• Drive partnership with planning and allocation on sales, receipts, markdown cadence and style color counts.
• Ability to evaluate financial and business indicators, evaluate reports and translate the data into actionable information to drive results (promotional cadence, chase orders).
• Partner with marketing, styling, and visual to ensure key items and big bets are elevated and supported by the cross functional teams.
• Managing the financials of business: OTB, IMU, MD, Closeouts, Inventory, and receipt plan.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
• 6+ years of experience in buying/merchandising
• High level of Excel knowledge
• High level of accuracy and analytical skills
• Proficient in retail math
• Strong business acumen
• Well organized and detail focused
• Self-motivated, multi-tasker
• High taste level

$150,000- $175,000