Director of Merchandising

Job description / Role

Responsibilities:

Product Strategy & Direction
• Clearly define team and product priorities; communicate strategic vision to drive a balanced, cohesive product assortment that mirrors the brand and consistently appeals to the customers’ taste
• Develop total season line plan with merchandisers and collaborate with Design to effectively combine with creative strategy to build assortments that achieve sales and brand goals
• Set IMU goals by category while overseeing the creation of a clear pricing structure that ties perceived value, quality and retail pricing together
• Develop and manage department go to market calendar; establishing major merchandising milestone dates and ensuring team deadlines and goals are met
• Lead development of selling strategies, selling periods, product lifecycles, brand positioning and channel distribution for all categories and channels
• Identify brand drivers, business goals and key products by season, communicating seasonal priorities to CFTs for total company alignment
• Develop and manage short and long term multi-category product road map, driving recommendations and implementation plans to Senior Leadership
• Conduct feasibility studies for new launch categories to asses and report on product viability
• Collaborate with stakeholders on new category business case preparation, review, and tracking
• Translate big-picture concepts into brand-right, consumer-friendly category direction
• Understands post-launch change management needs and enables team to implement effectively
• Adapt and implement industry best practices and tools to fit Kendra Scott culture and business needs

Leadership & Cross Functional Partnership
• Lead, inspire and develop the Merchandising team through creative leadership, strategic direction empowerment and transparent communication
• Partner with Director of Planning and Allocation to influence seasonal investment and allocation strategy, ensuring big ideas and growth drivers are protected
• Collaborate with Planning team to drive a promotional strategy and calendar that compliments overarching product and launch priorities
• Maintain close partnership with Design on external trends and provide merchandising influence at necessary design milestones
• Partner with Design and Development teams on sourcing new innovative product ideas, techniques and materials to drive business and evolve brand
• Partner with channel and category directors to continuously understand product trends, requests, opportunities and risks within their businesses
• Collaborate with channel directors to determine ecommerce and in-store presentations and strategies that support merchandising goals
• Partner with Marketing to define targeted consumer groups and integrate targets throughout various planning phases
• Exercise influence across the organization at senior levels to become a proactive, trusted advisor and thought leader on strategic issues to drive results on financial, brand and product decisions
• Ensure clear, 360-degree communication with CFTs gaining buy in on new initiatives, strategies, successes and opportunities
• Consistently promote collaboration, flexibility and positive company culture
• Represent department at applicable Wholesale markets and customer meetings

Financial Metrics & Reporting
• Report merchandising and financial trends and analysis to Senior Leadership to include actionable takeaways, risks and opportunities from a trend, financial and brand perspective
• Partner with Planning team to establish and measure financial expectations and metrics for all categories and product initiatives
• Formally hindsight product performance, communicate clear takeaways and establish actionable next steps from learnings
• Proactively monitor and report on product and category performance to identify risks and opportunities
• Ensure IMU% targets are met; work with Design and Development to creatively engineer when needed
• Provide creative solutions for meeting and exceeding financial goals

Industry & Customer Expertise
• Continually develop customer intimacy skills through regular store visits and competitive shopping; applies findings to merchandising and execution strategies
• Research macro industry trends and landscape; build strategies around key insights for new brand opportunities and communicate any foreseen risks
• Attends industry conferences, lectures, trade shows, and other avenues of research to keep informed of new product directions and trends

BENEFITS
• Attractive Salary Package

Requirements

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have:
• 10+ years of experience in retail merchandising or related field required
• 5+ years of experience managing and developing a team of successful merchants required
• 4 Year College degree required; B.S Degree in Retail Merchandising preferred
• Multi-category experience required; jewelry, accessories, home and beauty experience strongly preferred
• Multi-channel experience required; Wholesale, Retail, and E-commerce
• A strong cross-functional leader with a proven track record of positive collaboration and ability to drive measurable results on one’s own, through CFT influence and through a team
• Champion for product, brand, and customer in all cross-functional initiatives and plans
• Demonstrated ability to build and execute short and long-term product strategies, business cases and category growth plans • Strong financial acumen
• A clear understanding of the complete organizational impact of decision making
• Demonstrated ability to implement new processes and tools, consistently evolving department forward
• Senior-level of communication and presentation skills; ability to influence all levels of the company
• Excited and able to travel domestically and internationally

About the Company

Dragon Recruiting is a leading international staffing and recruitment company, head-quartered in London, with further offices all over the globe. Our clients range from numerous well known UK and international businesses. We also represent a wide range of less well known clients - helping them to find staff for their businesses around the world.

As an international recruitment agency, our clients benefit from a vast network of human resource specialists who attract, cultivate and connect organisations to talent in both global and local markets. Our unrivalled

scope of services and global reach allow us to share candidates and roles across borders. With greater coverage and tools, we can ensure our clients and candidates all get the best outcome for their recruitment needs.

With experience of over 3 decades we are recruiting more than 10,000 workers annually to and from the UK, USA and the Middle East and several other Asian countries. We specialize in the placement of candidates in permanent, contract, temporary and interim positions with clients around the world.