Purpose of Position:
Leads multiple categories and teams to achieve short- and long-term business goals. Provides strategic direction and merchandising leadership, collaborating with suppliers to develop and manage assortments that align with customer needs. Oversees direct and indirect teams in the category management process, making key decisions that impact business outcomes.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Category Strategy Development: Leads category strategy, annual assortment planning, and executional plans based on insights and vendor negotiations to optimize results. Collaborates with marketing, loyalty, owned brands, finance, and insights teams for integrated, consumer-driven merchandising plans.
- Team Leadership: Manages and mentors category managers, buyers, assistant buyers, and data specialists.
- Category Review and Planning: Oversees category review, leveraging cross-functional resources and data to interpret customer insights and make strategic recommendations. Focuses on sales, profit, and market share metrics to build assortments that differentiate Sportsman’s from competitors.
- Assortment Curation: Utilizes consumer insights to recommend assortments that address both national and regional trends, aligning with company strategy. Collaborates with eCommerce and marketing for an enhanced omnichannel customer experience.
- Pricing and Promotions: Drives sales and profit through effective pricing and promotional strategies, using data to meet profit and sales goals.
- KPI Management: Uses knowledge of key performance drivers to identify growth or improvement areas, mitigating risks and making informed business decisions.
- Vendor Relationships: Develops and prioritizes strategic vendor relationships, optimizing resources to maximize results. Negotiates to drive ongoing cost reductions.
- Store Support: Partners with retail operations to align merchandising plans with store needs, creating clear and executable in-store programs with consistent communication.
- Merchandise Investment: Manages assortment and merchandise investment decisions within categories of responsibility.
- Private Brands Advocacy: Supports company brands by optimizing growth where it aligns with category roles, ensuring team follows product development guidelines.
- Performance Management: Evaluates team performance, providing coaching and feedback to support growth.
- Inventory Management: Establishes processes to ensure product availability at the start of marketing events and maintains inventory levels.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Builds strong relationships across divisions to foster cooperation and support.
Qualifications:
- 6+ years in strategy and merchandising leadership, with retail experience required.
- Experience in merchandising plans, customer analysis, market evaluation, and goal setting.
- Collaborative team leadership, with experience in performance management and talent development.
- 5+ years in vendor negotiation, including contract negotiation and issue resolution.
- Experience in pricing, promotions, and market analysis.
- Strategic initiative development aligned with business goals.
- Executive meeting coordination experience.
- Financial decision-making experience.
- 2+ years in direct and cross-functional team leadership.
Education/Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
- 5+ years of category-specific expertise.
Key Skills:
- Strong merchandising, marketing, and planning process knowledge, with cross-category experience preferred.
- Exceptional leadership, interpersonal, and motivational skills for effective cross-functional collaboration.
- Strong analytical, critical thinking, and strategic planning skills.
- Excellent negotiation and communication abilities.
- Experience mentoring and leading teams to deliver strong results.
- In-depth understanding of retail, marketplace trends, and financial acumen.
Work Environment/Physical Demands:
- Primarily sedentary, with occasional requirements to exert up to 10 lbs. of force. Regular standing, sitting, talking, hearing, and using hands for computer and phone use. Vision acuity for close-range work.
- Moderate noise levels typical of an office environment.
Travel Requirements:
- Up to 25% travel for business purposes (in-state and out-of-state).
Sportsman’s Warehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
