Director, Merchandising and Product Development

Jostens • Minneapolis, MN

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

DIRECTOR, MERCHANDISING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ABOUT YOU: Are you a data-driven, trend-savvy merchandising leader ready to shape the future of Jostens’ product portfolio? As Director of Merchandising and Product Development, you will serve as the general manager across all product categories—blending product strategy, customer insights, and financial performance to optimize our omnichannel assortment. You’ll drive growth across our core businesses and our fast-scaling custom school apparel platform, the Mascot Shop, while mentoring a high-performing team and delivering exceptional consumer value. YOU WILL: Create a merchandising strategy that delivers both growth and brand alignment. Leverage trend, consumer, and analytics data to shape omnichannel product assortments for core business units. Lead product development execution across seasonal calendars. Balance in-house manufacturing and external sourcing to deliver compelling, margin-optimized collections. Drive pricing strategies and margin goals. Use competitive analysis, cost negotiations, and value engineering to optimize bulk and DTC pricing models. Scale the Mascot Shop merchandising strategy. Build quarterly assortment plans, develop vendor relationships, and drive innovation for this custom apparel platform. Partner across digital, UX, and marketing. Guide merchandising displays and promotions that enhance online shopability and conversion. Analyze performance to guide future assortment plans. Identify top- and bottom-performing SKUs, translate insights into buying decisions, and advise on display and promotion tactics. Oversee new product setup and lifecycle tracking. Ensure operational consistency and speed to market across product lines. Lead and develop a high-performing team. Foster a collaborative culture, inspire innovative thinking, and build strong cross-functional partnerships. Typical/expected % of overnight travel: up to 25%

Requirements

• 10+ years in multi-category merchandising or buying. Preferably within a multi-channel retail environment.
• 3+ years of team leadership experience.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, coach, and retain top talent.
• Strategic and tactical planning skills.
• Experience with performance monitoring and managing complex project roadmaps.
• E-commerce and omni-channel merchandising fluency.
• Proven success leading both offline and online assortment strategies.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience partnering with sales, UX, marketing, and operations.
• High attention to detail.
• Comfortable working through tactics, reporting, and hands-on execution.
• Entrepreneurial mindset.
• Resourceful self-starter who thrives in fast-paced, evolving environments.
• Ability to influence across the enterprise.
• Strong track record driving change within large, complex organizations.

Responsibilities

• Create a merchandising strategy that delivers both growth and brand alignment.
• Leverage trend, consumer, and analytics data to shape omnichannel product assortments for core business units.
• Lead product development execution across seasonal calendars.
• Balance in-house manufacturing and external sourcing to deliver compelling, margin-optimized collections.
• Drive pricing strategies and margin goals.
• Use competitive analysis, cost negotiations, and value engineering to optimize bulk and DTC pricing models.
• Scale the Mascot Shop merchandising strategy.
• Build quarterly assortment plans, develop vendor relationships, and drive innovation for this custom apparel platform.
• Partner across digital, UX, and marketing.
• Guide merchandising displays and promotions that enhance online shopability and conversion.
• Analyze performance to guide future assortment plans.
• Identify top- and bottom-performing SKUs, translate insights into buying decisions, and advise on display and promotion tactics.
• Oversee new product setup and lifecycle tracking.
• Ensure operational consistency and speed to market across product lines.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team.
• Foster a collaborative culture, inspire innovative thinking, and build strong cross-functional partnerships.

Benefits

• We care about your health. We offer competitive healthcare (health, dental, vision, coverage) in addition to voluntary benefits including home and car insurance, pet insurance, flexible spending account, amongst many more.
• We invest in your future. Our 401K plan has immediate vesting, so you can start saving for retirement right away.
• We believe in flexibility. We offer a hybrid schedule with on-site work 3 days a week.
• We want you to unplug when needed. We believe in taking your time off without guilt and offer accrued paid time off and company paid holidays. For Washington residents, you will receive 13 vacation days, 8 paid sick leave, 8 company paid holidays, and family paid leave.
• We care about your development. We support tuition reimbursement after 6 months of service.
• We believe in pay transparency. The salary range is $XX to $XX with annual bonus eligibility.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees