Vans: Manager, Merchandising, Women's & Kids Apparel (Americas)

Vans is the original brand rooted in the authentic lifestyle of skateboarding. We are driven by our mission to inspire and empower everyone to live “Off The Wall” – embracing the youthful spirit of freedom, non-conformity, and relentless progression. Yesterday’s “Off The Wall” moment is today’s new normal, and at Vans, we believe in constantly outdoing ourselves. Together with our communities across the globe, our vision is to push culture forward because we believe that the pursuit of progression never ends. We are constantly inspired by the future generation of positive catalysts within our community.    

So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture. If you can see yourself working side-by-side with a team of people who think and live “Off the Wall,” Vans just may be the place for you.  

To learn more about our values and our culture, visit Vans Careers or www.vans.com.  

So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture. If you can see yourself working side-by-side with a team of people who think and live “Off the Wall,” Vans just may be the place for you.  

To learn more about our values and our culture, visit Vans Careers or www.vans.com.  

What will you do? 

A day in the life of a Merchandising Manager for Women's and Kid's Apparel at Vans looks a little like this.

Reporting to the Director of Merchandising, the Merchandising Manager (Americas) is responsible for the creation and execution of product strategies that are regionally relevant to help deliver long-term brand goals and profitable growth. The Merchandising Manager has a deep awareness and intuition of the consumer, competitor, marketplace dynamics, and guest needs. This person creates effective partnerships with Global Merchandising, Planning, In Season Country teams, Visual Merchandising, Digital, Marketing, and Retail Operations to deliver “right product, right stores, right time.”

Let’s break down that day-in-the-life a bit more.

• LRP / Pre-season planning – Partners to execute Marketplace strategy (including defining white space opportunities) across wholesale and DTC in their respective category and marketplace responsibility. "Curated" assortments. Demand driving attributes to facilitate account meetings

• Seasonal strategy, line architecture & pricing - In their respective category and marketplace responsibility, partner to develop and manage regional line architecture and assortment strategies. Set in-region pricing (with global guidelines). Balance mono-brand and multi-brand environments to align with brand and market objectives.

• Expertise in competitive landscaping and benchmarking

• In-season management – In their respective category and marketplace responsibility, provide input on marketplace execution and manage capacity. Work with regional planning to deliver financial targets. In-region final promo and markdown decision (within global guidelines/strategy).

• Always on – In their respective category and marketplace responsibility, monitor and code consumer demand trends, using insights to shape planning and assortment decisions. Ad hoc reporting / analysis to support seasonal product decision-making.

• Regional Relevance: - In their respective category and marketplace responsibility, responsible to identify and drive regional including assortment definition, segmentation, customer specific initiatives, and align need with global functions

• Coaches and develops Merchandising teams to strengthen team capabilities and drive executional excellence

What do you need to succeed? 
We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 8-10 years of experience and professional achievements.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• 8-10 years’ experience in retail in a merchant or buying role

• Bachelor’s degree in a qualified area (Business, Commerce, Fashion Merchandising)

• Mastery of retail mathematics and Open to Buy

• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret multiple data points across numero