Senior Director, Merchandising

From Aisle to Algorithm and for All Life’s Moments, at David’s Bridal, we empower our customers and our employees to stay true to their dreams and find the one, whether that means the event or the wedding dress that matches a personal style—or the career that is a perfect fit. Join a company that dominates the products in their category – 1 out of 3 being sold by them and taking care of them with one of the highest customer service scores in retail!
If you are passionately enthusiastic, endlessly curious, and customer obsessed, say “I do” and apply today!


The Senior Director, Merchandising sets and owns the total merchandising vision, strategy and financial performance for the Bridal, Dress and Accessories divisions. Leading a team of four Buyers and their teams, the Senior Director translates enterprise growth objectives into a differentiated, profitable, omni-channel assortment strategy — accountable for sales, margin, inventory productivity, market share and EBITDA growth. This is a leader-of-leaders role that combines trend and brand vision, deep retail and financial acumen, and organizational leadership: building benchmark-strength teams, forging cross-functional alignment, and representing the business to senior and executive leadership.
Channel Scope: Full omni-channel accountability across six key routes to market — Bricks, Ecom, Consignment/Shop-in-Shop, Store-in-Store, Marketplace and Wholesale — with divisional strategies, assortments and economics optimized for each channel's role.
STRATEGY & GROWTH LEADERSHIP

• Set the merchandising vision. Create, own and execute the long-range plan and business strategy for Merchandising in partnership with SVP, translating enterprise growth objectives into category and channel roadmaps.
• Drive profitable growth. Develop innovative solutions to drive sales, grow market share and deliver EBITDA growth; identify white-space opportunities and build the plans to capture them.
• Own the omni-channel strategy. Define and evolve the strategy across all six channels, ensuring product, price, presentation and economics are optimized for each channel's role and margin structure.
• Read the business. Continually analyze the business to surface opportunities to increase sales and mitigate risk, pivoting strategy and investment as trend dictates.
ASSORTMENT, LINE & PRODUCT LEADERSHIP
• Direct the assortment architecture. Define and oversee a assortment architecture that achieves the target mix of fashion, quality and price and meets the varying needs and preferences of the David's Bridal customer.
• Shape the line & product. Partner with Merchants, Design and Product Development on line framework, fabrics, silhouettes and design direction; guide the sample procurement, review and selection process.
• Optimize by channel. Set assortment strategy by channel — including channel-specific and capsule offers for Marketplace, Wholesale and Shop-in-Shop partners.
• Align creative & go-to-market. Champion the seasonal creative vision with Visual, Marketing and Digital, aligning merchandise presentation, campaign messaging and go-to-market execution.
FINANCIAL OWNERSHIP & ANALYSIS
• Own the P&L. Own divisional sales, margin and EBITDA performance; partner with Planning to develop seasonal financial goals and manage in-season to meet or exceed plan.
• Partner for planning excellence. Build a strong, collaborative partnership with the VP, Planning, Demand Planning and Merch Analytics to align on financial targets, forecasts, assortment plans and inventory strategy — leveraging shared analytics and a single source of truth to drive faster, better-informed decisions.
• Direct financial strategy. Set open-to-buy, pricing and promotional strategy with Planning, pivoting as needed on business trend to protect margin and full-price sell-through.
• Scale eCommerce. Grow eCommerce sales and margin as a core divisional priority, holding teams accountable to conversion, penetration and profitability targets.
• Drive inventory productivity. In close partnership with VP, Planning, Demand Planning and Merch Analytics, ensure adherence to turn and GMROI$ benchmarks through disciplined Pareto analysis, demand-driven inventory flow, in-stock optimization, and proactive life-cycle and liquidation management across all six channels.
TEAM LEADERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT
• Build benchmark-strength teams. Lead, supervise and develop Buyers and their teams; make decisions on hiring, performance, counseling, promotion and retention.
• Develop talent. Coach and grow the next generation of merchant leaders, creating career pathways and a culture of accountability, urgency and constructive feedback.
• Forge cross-functional alignment. Build and maintain productive cross-functional partnerships with Design, Product Development, Plannin