Lifestyle Senior Merchandising Manager – Global Flagship & E-commerce

Who We Are: 

Since 1906, New Balance has empowered people through sport and craftsmanship to create positive change in communities around the world. We innovate fearlessly, guided by our core values and driven by the belief that conventions were meant to be challenged. We foster a culture in which every associate feels welcomed and respected, where leaders and creatives are inspired to shape the world of tomorrow by taking bold action today.

JOB MISSION:

The Lifestyle Senior Merchandising Manager – Global Flagship & E-commerce is responsible for the art and science of merchandising the NB Flagship store and e-comm formats from a global business unit (GBU) perspective. You will partner with the global and regional GBU, VM and DTC teams to build bespoke flagship and digital flagship assortments for apparel, footwear, and accessories, informed by brand ambition, data, store capacities and consumer insights. This role will build assortments into a plan that achieves the commercial goals, through brand and category stories as a pinnacle expression of the NB brand.

You will be the independent mediator between GBU and regions, always strive for pragmatic solutions that find optimal positions between commercial, brand and business goals. You will work cross functionally with partners in all categories to deliver a cross-category representation that will include performance and lifestyle propositions across footwear, apparel and accessories.

MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Lead the apparel merchandising efforts for the Business Unit and be the conduit in and out of the regions for the GBU teams at flagship retail (Boston, London, Tokyo, NYC ) and e-commerce globally.
• Partner with team members and functions to deliver aligned collaborative solutions to represent the desired brand goals and values.
• Deliver a seasonal Flagship and e-comm plan & assortment for footwear, apparel, and accessories that is story led, with planned product mix and lifecycles.
• Deliver world class product showcases
• Integrate consumer insights and regional feedback to shape the overall long-range plan for the flagship and e-commerce businesses
• Have a strong knowledge of lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories
• Solicit, consolidate and reconcile commercial regional input to validate current and prior seasonal performance, to inform future assortment planning
• Ensure GBU & brand plans are adopted in alignment to the Flagship & e-commerce plan at each milestone consistently in all markets
• Drive the Flagship & E-commerce brand assortment at each milestone stage, ensure key stories and game plan are front and center for the season. Ensure consistency in adoption and lifecycle planning with broader brand plans and strategy
• Build flagship & e-commerce assortments and plans alongside other DTC formats and wholesale accounts, deliver strategic alignment and of the overall business plan
• Build assortments to pre-planned zones delivering against share and mix targets established in the LRP and LPA for the season.
• Maintain the integrity of key styles through lifecycle management & product segmentation
• Facilitate key touch points and milestones with the markets, planning, GTM milestones and certain commercial touchpoints
• Serve as the cross functional team voice in mid to long term strategy planning for DTC flagship (physical retail and ecommerce)
• Be the day to day go to for the regional DTC teams managing the flagship and e-commerce process in region

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS:

• 10+ years of industry experience in apparel / footwear and/or merchandising
• Be comfortable with ambiguity, knowing the optimal solution will often be made up of multiple compromises
• Ability to balance and rationalize objective and subjective points of view and opinions
• Have a strong background of analytics and product / marketplace & consumer knowledge, art & science, possess data and creative skills
• Knowledge of channel segmentation, range architecture, product assortments, concept drivers, and product flow
• Have the ability to attend all major go-to-market milestones.
• Sophisticated communicator, able to clearly present and negotiate with multiple regions, cultures and areas of expertise at all levels
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills are essential
• Attend where possible select market milestones in order to gain and maintain a strong global perspective. (budget and time dependent)
• Travel required

Regular Associate Benefits 

Our products are only as good as the people we hire, so we make sure to hire the best and treat them accordingly. New Bal