VP, Merchandising

Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE AN IMPACT:
The VP, Merchandising is a key leader within the organization, with responsibility for leading the cross-functional team in the development of the Product and Brand strategies. You will be a strategic thinker with a deep understanding of market trends, consumer behavior, and the ability to collaborate effectively cross functionally, forging strong relationships across design, planning and PDC. This leader will drive compelling category assortments that are trend appropriate while being both commercially viable and true to the DNA of the Carter’s brand. The VP, Merchandising will be a collaborative, diplomatic and inspiring leader who will not only develop and motivate the team but will serve as a passionate brand ambassador.

This role reports into the SVP, Merchandising, has 3-4 direct reports and is based in our Buckhead office. 

Category Strategy Leadership (50%) 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive merchandising strategy that drives sales, profitability, and market share growth.
• Align merchandising initiatives with the overall business goals and brand vision, curating a diverse and compelling product assortment that reflects current trends and customer preferences.
• Lead merchandising teams in identifying current and future trends along with potential white space opportunities to create a unique offering for the consumer.
• Lead development of global line plan, assortment mix and strategy for Category. Partner with Design, PDC, Sales/Planning, Operations and other Merchandising VPs to ensure strategies are clearly communicated throughout organization
• Influence others and gain alignment on strategies to drive business, style and innovation forward
• Lead business and creative decisions for final assortment with Design, Art and PDC. Key liaison with cross functional partners on assortment, visual and pricing strategies
• Work closely with design and planning teams to ensure cohesive product development and inventory management.
• Optimize merchandise assortment across store and e-commerce channels, supporting key growth initiatives and capabilities that evolve or grow the business within the channel, across channels, and/or across the brand.

Brand Strategy Leadership (30%) 

• Brand/CRI Strategy & Projects:  Lead product strategy development including driving milestone meetings and executing product development calendar.
• Lead teams and partner with other to drive Brand Seasonal Strategy, Total CRI Competitive Review, MBR/LT Meetings and Company Wide Initiatives
• Develop a balanced product assortment with a strong price-value relationship to achieve consistency within all business classifications.
• Conduct market research and analysis to identify emerging trends, opportunities, and competitive threats.
• Utilize data-driven insights and establish KPIs to inform merchandising decisions and strategies. Analyze sales data and customer feedback to continuously improve the product offering and enhance the customer experience. 

Drive achievement of Financial Goals (20%)

• Drive achievement of margin, sales goals based on financial plans for all channels
• Develop Long Range Plans with cross functional teams and Leadership Team
• Maintain awareness of competition relative to product value relationship and customer profitability within category 
• Lead the team to analyze sales, competitive and market trends, and customer behavior to establish or update overall product assortment strategies.
• Clearly communicate business, margin, markdown, and inventory opportunities to cross-functional teams and leadership.

WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF:
Must have:

• 10+ years of successful experience in retail buying or merchandising with at least 5+ years in a leadership role within an omnichannel retail environment
• Proven experience leading the product development process within a highly matrixed organization
• Highly productive, and influential, cross-functional partnerships with sourcing, product development, design
• Successful apparel merchandising experience, at the director level, in multiple channels of distribution  
• Strong ability to build business strategies and implement shorter-term tactical plans that are cost-effective, efficient and realis