Director of Merchandising

2nd Swing Golf•Eden Prairie, MN

15h•$110,000 - $160,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Merchandising owns the end-to-end sourcing and buying strategy — from vendor identification and negotiation through assortment planning, pricing, and inventory performance. This role sits at the intersection of supply, demand, and margin: you help decide what we buy, who we buy it from, what we pay, and how much we carry. This is a full-time, in-office, player-coach leadership role reporting to the VP of Purchasing. You will manage and develop a team of buying and sourcing professionals, own the category budget and annual plan, build the analytics and KPI framework the team is measured against, and lead cross-functional projects from scope through launch. The right person is equally comfortable building a cost model in a spreadsheet, negotiating annual terms across the table, running a weekly performance review with a direct report, and presenting a budget variance to the executive team. Come work with us, not for us! 2nd Swing is a one of a kind, forward thinking, customer-centric golf retail company. Our employees are highly-valued, while working hard in a positive and supportive culture. At 2nd Swing you will find: Vast Exposure to the Golf Industry A Commitment to Total Well-Being Opportunities to Discover Your Fit and Make an Impact A Collaborative and Flexible Environment

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Merchandising, Finance, or a related field required
7+ years in buying, sourcing, or category management, including 3+ years managing a team
Demonstrated ownership of a category budget or P&L — annual planning, forecasting, and variance management
Track record of building KPIs and scorecards and using them to drive accountability and measurable improvement
Success negotiating supplier agreements and delivering measurable cost savings or margin improvement
Strong analytical skills — advanced Excel, comfort with large data sets — and experience with ERP or purchasing systems (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Dynamics)
Proven project management capability, leading multi-stakeholder initiatives from scope through delivery
Active, knowledgeable golfer who understands the major OEM brands and what separates one club from another; we'll teach the industry mechanics to the right buyer

Nice To Haves

Golf industry experience — buying, merchandising, or fitting at a retailer, OEM, green-grass shop, or distributor
Pre-owned, trade-in, or recommerce sourcing and grading
Retail, e-commerce, or omnichannel background — or another enthusiast hard-goods category where product expertise drives the sale
Experience using BI and planning tools

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a team of buying and sourcing professionals
Establish the team's KPI framework — set targets, define measurement methodology, and build the scorecards and dashboards that make performance visible
Own the annual category budget — revenue, gross margin, inventory investment, and cost-savings targets — and manage performance against it throughout the year
Build and maintain the open-to-buy plan by category, aligned to sales forecasts and financial targets; reforecast monthly and quarterly as demand, supply, and cost conditions shift
Design and maintain the reporting infrastructure the team runs on: category dashboards, vendor scorecards, sell-through and margin reporting, and cost-savings tracking
Translate analysis into recommendations — identify the trend, size the opportunity or risk, and bring a decision-ready point of view to leadership
Identify, negotiate, and onboard new suppliers; maintain a diversified vendor base that balances cost, quality, lead time, and risk
Monitor supplier performance against scorecard metrics (fill rate, on-time delivery, defect rate, chargebacks) and drive corrective action where needed
Proactively manage supply risk — single-source exposure, tariff and duty changes, capacity constraints, and lead-time volatility
Develop assortment strategy: good/better/best structure, price-point architecture, breadth vs. depth, and exclusive or private-label opportunities
Set pricing, markdown, and clearance strategy with Finance and Merchandising, and execute cost-savings initiatives against target
Analyze sell-through, attach rates, and category trends to inform reorders, expansions, and discontinuations; partner with Merchandising and Marketing on launches and promotional calendars
Manage inventory to balance in-stock service targets against carrying cost and aged-inventory exposure; partner with Distribution and Store Operations on allocation, replenishment, and new-store opening buys
Break complex initiatives into workstreams with named owners, dependencies, and milestone dates; escalate blockers before they become delays
Drive process improvement across the buying function — reduce manual work, tighten cycle times, improve PO accuracy, lead-time reliability, and data integrity at the source
Identify where processes and systems are breaking down, then partner with Development and Operations to scope, prioritize, and see fixes through to implementation and adoption
Maintain project documentation and standardized playbooks so repeatable work becomes repeatable, not reinvented