Sporting Fashion & Goods
The North Face: Manager, Merchandising Women's and Youth
Mid Level
Denver, United States
in office
Full time
Buying, Procurement & Supply ChainCategory ManagementMerchandise Buying$91k – 113k
Job description
About the Role
Leads The North Face's Women's Apparel strategy while owning the Women's Performance Apparel categories. It collaborates closely with Global and Regional marketplace teams to deliver consumer-right assortments that reflect the brand vision and cultural leadership. The merchandiser is commercially driven, curious, and thrives in a team environment, reporting directly to the Senior Manager – Apparel.
Key Responsibilities
- Own seasonal merchandising strategy and line architecture for Women's Apparel and Performance, ensuring alignment with regional strategy, brand vision, and financial goals; operate as regional product expert for Women's Performance Apparel.
- Lead team of Women's Apparel merchants through seasonal strategy execution and critical milestones.
- Drive regional assortment plans for assigned projects/categories and reconcile line plan with channel merchandising plans at key milestones to ensure alignment.
- Develop and rank franchise strategies and optimise assortments based on historical and current product performance, identifying redundancies and opportunities for growth.
- Lead women's apparel team in marketplace and competitor research to inform seasonal direction and identify new consumer-driven opportunities.
- Maintain and update line plans throughout the season, ensuring accuracy and adherence to calendar milestones, and drive inputs into seasonal planning by gathering and analysing financials, forecasting, competitor insights, line plans, and regional insights.
- Analyse historical data and current trends to identify business risks and opportunities, recommending strategies to achieve financial objectives across Women's Apparel and Performance categories.
- Lead women's team preparation and presentation of materials for key meetings, including line reviews and milestone presentations, driving alignment across global and regional teams.
- Demonstrate awareness of adjacent categories such as Men's Performance Apparel, Equipment, Accessories, and Footwear to support holistic brand vision.
- Proactively lead ongoing communication with Regional Channel and Planning partners throughout the GTM process, ensuring seamless flow of key information and alignment on assortment, financial targets, and distribution strategies.
Required Experience & Qualifications
- 6+ years of experience in merchandising, product management, or a related field.
- Deep technical outdoor apparel product and consumer knowledge.
- Clear understanding of industry trends, consumer behaviour, marketplace insights, and cultural influences that drive product decisions.
- Ability to interpret financial data, manage line plans, and maintain accuracy across multiple seasonal milestones.
- Strong business acumen and understanding of retail math, financial metrics, and profitability analysis.
- Excellent collaboration skills, including a proven ability to communicate with various levels of management and employees within the organisation with clarity.
- Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills to influence cross-functional teams and drive alignment.
- Ability to think strategically and act tactically.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment while meeting deadlines and adhering to calendar processes.
- Ability to foster a collaborative environment with Global and Regional Merchandising partners, as well as Planning, Channel, and Sales teams to achieve shared goals.
- Proactive approach to identifying the root cause of issues, seeking the best solutions with a values-driven commitment to do what is right.
- Strong skills in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) with experience in PLM systems.
- Ability to work in an open environment with cross-functional partners.
- Computer proficiency, including specific job-required applications.
- Must be flexible and adaptive to change.
Preferred Skills
- A relevant Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience.
- Apparel experience.
Salary
- Eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential; specific details will be provided during the recruiting and interview process.
Benefits & Perks
- VF Corporation offers benefit programmes, including medical plans; detailed information is provided during the hiring process.
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