Sr. Manager, Merchandising Strategy & Operations

The Sr. Manager, Merchandising Strategy & Operations contributes to REI’s success by leading a team responsible for omni-channel Merchandising initiatives & strategy development, including testing and deployment within the enterprise. This role also leads the distillation of Merchandising/Store Insights and communications and business process analysis and improvement. The individual in this role will seek opportunities to progress assortment relevance in an integrated, omnichannel capacity by developing – through distillation of qualitative and quantitative insights and industry trends – a portfolio of offering and experience strategies and a scalable cross-functional operationalization plan. This role and remit will be highly visible and drive critical bodies of work serving enterprise strategic initiatives including activity, omni experience, and membership. A champion for the Co-op customer experience and our organizational values, the Senior Manager, Merchandising Strategy and Operations will lead their team through highly collaborative, multidimensional, ambiguous bodies of work, assessing and balancing current and future enterprise capabilities with consumer demand and profitability expectations whilst also crafting a vision for the future and a roadmap for how to get there.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

• Support Director and Merch Leadership Team in planning and development of assortment and initiatives strategies.
• Provide thought leadership with Senior CMM and CMM peers and cross-functional peers in matters related to assortment, activity, omnichannel offering expression, and the like.
• Represent and champion Merch initiatives, tests and assortment strategies with cross-functional partners. Driving alignment, support, and measurement strategies for each.
• Demonstrate strong decision-making quality serving Co-op priorities and financial plans when path ahead is unclear and/or variable.
• Serve as key thought leader and organizational representative in physical place progression and format projects.
• Lead through and support team in the progression of projects that meet stated business objectives, promote company identity, and enhance the Co-op consumer experience.
• Participate on assigned project teams and/or support team members in doing so.
• Provide expertise on customer, location, and offering expression strategies, business management and process enhancement, and operationalization capabilities.
• Develop and deploy Merch initiatives and assortment strategies created through synthetization of quantitative and qualitative data and insights, and market, retail, and customer trends.
• Create strategic and decision-making frameworks and rationale that drive offering relevance in an integrated, omnichannel capacity.
• Create methods for collecting, analyzing and communicating market, customer, and store insights about products and assortments. Lead team, to package and deliver Insights and actions within Merchandising and omni-channel partners.
• Own strategic and business process analysis deliverables lifecycle from initial concept phase through stakeholder recommendation, organizational implementation, and consult and support.
• Identify gaps in existing strategies and business processes and lead team through business analysis and process improvement, enabling sustainable and scalable customer-centered solutions that achieve growth targets.
• Partner with Merchandising Assortment Planning and Analytics leader on new store, format, and market assortment strategies and solutions and enterprise execution.
• Contribute to establishment and execution of annual and seasonal assortment strategies and Merch strategic initiatives.
• Act as a key driver of turning insights into action within Merch org and with cross-functional partners.
• Develop and implement collaboration processes and communication plans serving assortment relevance and Merch initiatives/tests with key partners in Retail, Digital, Marketing, and the like.
• Effectively communicate Merch strategies and customer impact to key partners.
• Champion change serving customer-centered assortment and experience strategies within Merch org and broader Co-op.
• Understand REI strategic plan and linkages to Merch initiatives and design and support implementation of solutions that drive results.
• Coordinate with key peers and partners on insights, customer opportunities, and operational execution focused on successful outcomes.
• Oversees training and development of employees directly and indirectly managed and makes effective staffing decisions.
• Nurtures and supports team-member career growth aspirations. Conducts and ensures the completion of performance reviews.
• Provides coaching, direction, and leadership support to employees to achieve department, company, and customer results.

Qualifications

• 10+ years established experience developing and deploying organizational strategies in a multi-channel retail environment
• 5+ years demonstrated leadership/management skills
• Elevated proficiency in business process analysis and change management within a business unit and/or enterprise level
• Demonstrated ability to balance quantitative and qualitative insights to make effective business decisions
• Experience establishing and implementing mid-to-longer term strategies impacting organizational and enterprise initiatives
• Expertise building strategic communications designed to influence and gain support across supporting divisions, functions, and teams
• Proven track record of building and maintaining strong, collaborative business partnerships
• Broad understanding of retail industry concepts and desire/track record for continuous learning in this space
• Demonstrated ability to successfully champion initiatives cross-divisionally
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Builds capacity of individuals and teams through effective employee development, involvement, communication, and supervision efforts
• Creates a strong, mutually supportive work spirit and culture where people can do their best

Closing

At REI, we believe the outdoors is for all. We are committed to becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization. We know that there’s strength in our diversity – that each employee brings unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Every day you are driving change, fostering a culture of respect, and knowing you’re backed by benefits that support your whole life. To work towards this commitment and fulfill our brand promise of inspiring and enabling a life outside for everyone, we seek employees who demonstrate different ways of working, create a sense of belonging, and actively listen and learn.

Pay Transparency

We are committed to practices that promote pay equity and transparency. As required by applicable Pay Transparency laws, REI provides a range of compensation for roles that may be hired in locations under these requirements. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include a wide array of factors, including: your specific skills and experience, geographic location or other relevant factors.

REI offers all regular employees a generous employee discount, access to health benefits, a retirement savings plan and accrued time off. Click here for a detailed overview of benefits plans by employee profile.

Pay Range

$125,300.00 – $180,900.00 per year

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