Director, Global Product & Merchandising - Li

GIBSON Inc•Nashville, TN

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Global Product & Merchandising will lead global product strategy, merchandising, seasonal commercialization, and product lifecycle management for Gibson’s growing lifestyle business across apparel, headwear, accessories, and future consumer categories, including bags, home/office products, collectibles, and other lifestyle extensions. This leader will translate Gibson’s iconic heritage, craftsmanship, artists, and cultural influence into premium, commercially compelling global assortments that strengthen the brand and drive growth across direct-to-consumer (DTC) and traditional wholesale channels. The role will lead product and merchandising strategies across Gibson’s DTC business, including e-commerce and owned retail, while leveraging significant wholesale expertise to build strategic retail partnerships across department stores, specialty retailers, and other key global distribution channels. Working across Gibson’s internal business units and a network of world-class external product manufacturing partners, the Director will serve as the central cross-functional leader responsible for bringing products from concept through commercialization. This individual will partner closely with Design, Marketing, Sales, Licensing, Legal, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership to deliver global assortments that achieve brand, consumer, channel, revenue, margin, and profitability objectives while maintaining Gibson’s premium positioning and long-term brand strategy. The Director will also lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Product Management and Merchandising team, fostering accountability, collaboration, operational excellence, and career development. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in global product management and merchandising, wholesale and DTC businesses, multi-category product creation, financial and commercial management, and team leadership within premium global consumer lifestyle brands.

Requirements

10-15+ years of Product Management and Merchandising experience within premium global consumer-based lifestyle brands.
Minimum of 10 years of experience developing and managing traditional wholesale sales strategies and operations, with significant responsibility for retail partnerships, including department stores, within the lifestyle, apparel, footwear, accessories, or related consumer goods sectors.
Minimum of 5 years of experience managing direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels, including e-commerce, owned retail, customer acquisition, and consumer engagement strategies within the lifestyle, apparel, footwear, accessories, or related consumer goods sectors.
Minimum of 5 years managing a team (5+direct reports) across product management, merchandising, marketing, operations and other functions.
Demonstrated success managing global product assortments across multiple product categories.
Experience working cross-functionally with Design, Marketing, Sales, Licensing, Legal, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership.
Strong financial and commercial acumen.
Experience managing external product development or sourcing partners.
Exceptional organizational, communication, and presentation skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Project management skills combined with ability to work as part of a team
Passionate about working and winning in a team environment
Results oriented and driven, with a track record for delivering to plan
Flexibility to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Able to proactively question and challenge to prioritize and identify solutions in a timely manner
Clear and logical thinker
Relish working in a company with a diverse, challenging, and fast paced environment

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's Degree in fashion merchandising, design, marketing, business management or equivalent degree or related work experience

Responsibilities

Develop the three-to-five-year global product roadmap for Lifestyle.
Create seasonal merchandising strategies across all lifestyle categories.
Identify whitespace opportunities and adjacent product categories.
Build global assortment strategies by channel, region, consumer, and price architecture.
Develop Better / Best / Pinnacle product strategies that support both premium positioning and commercial growth.
Partner with leadership to define long-term category expansion priorities.
Own the seasonal product architecture across categories including Apparel, Headwear and Accessories (Bags, Leather Goods, Jewelry, Drinkware, Home, Collectibles).
Seasonal line plans
SKU architecture
Assortment planning
Pricing strategy
Margin optimization
Collection storytelling
Product lifecycle management
Product briefs and commercialization plans
Develop and execute global wholesale strategies that launch and scale Gibson Lifestyle’s presence across department stores, specialty retailers, premium boutiques, and other strategic wholesale accounts in the U.S. and international markets.
Build and manage strategic retail partnerships, serving as a senior business leader with key accounts to establish distribution strategies, negotiate commercial opportunities, develop assortments, and drive sustainable revenue and margin growth.
Leverage deep knowledge of wholesale retail dynamics to identify high-value distribution opportunities, optimize account segmentation and door strategies, and ensure Gibson product assortments are appropriately positioned by retailer, channel, geography, and consumer.
Partner closely with Marketing, Sales and Operations to develop compelling wholesale line plans, seasonal assortments, pricing architectures, sell-in strategies, and account-specific initiatives that maximize both retailer productivity and Gibson’s financial performance.
Establish and scale wholesale operating processes and performance metrics, including sales forecasting, open-to-buy alignment, sell-in and sell-through analysis, inventory management, account profitability, and seasonal business reviews, to drive continuous improvement across the global wholesale business.
Serve as the primary cross-functional business partner connecting Lifestyle with key Gibson organizations, partnering with each of the following including:
Build exclusive product strategies
Optimize assortments by sales channel
Improve online conversion through merchandising
Support retail store product planning
Analyze consumer purchasing behavior to improve future assortments
Collaborate on seasonal campaign planning
Develop integrated product launch strategies
Align merchandising stories with marketing content, artist partnerships, events, and brand initiatives
Support retail marketing, digital storytelling, and consumer engagement
Identify opportunities to translate instrument innovation, craftsmanship, finishes, artist collections and product launches into compelling lifestyle products
Align seasonal launches with new instrument introductions and key brand initiatives
Ensure Lifestyle products authentically reflect Gibson’s instrument heritage
Develop commercially viable licensed product programs
Ensure product consistency across licensees
Evaluate new licensing opportunities
Support collaborative product development with strategic brand partners
Maintain premium brand positioning across all licensed categories
Review product approvals
Support licensing agreements
Ensure trademark compliance
Protect Gibson intellectual property
Manage product compliance and contractual obligations throughout development
Serve as Gibson's primary business lead with external product creation partners responsible for design, sourcing, development, manufacturing, and commercialization.
Managing strategic product development partners
Leading seasonal product creation calendars
Reviewing concepts and prototypes
Driving product quality and innovation
Managing commercialization timelines
Ensuring brand consistency across all product categories
Coordinating manufacturing readiness and launch execution
Monitor consumer trends
Analyze competitive brands
Conduct retail intelligence
Evaluate emerging product categories
Utilize sales analytics to improve future assortments
Recommend opportunities based on market insights and consumer behavior
Revenue forecasting
Margin planning
Category profitability
SKU productivity
Inventory optimization
Seasonal sales planning
Product performance analytics
Business case development for new product initiatives
Provide coaching and professional development
Delegate seasonal product ownership
Manage workload prioritization
Develop merchandising and product management capabilities
Create a high-performing, collaborative team culture
Build scalable processes to support continued organizational growth