Director, Retail Visual Merchandising

Comfrt

4d•$150,000 - $170,000•Remote

About The Position

Comfrt is seeking a strategic, creative, and commercially driven Director of Retail Visual Merchandising to build and lead the visual merchandising function across its growing fleet of stores. The role connects product strategy, brand storytelling, and retail execution, creating scalable merchandising strategies that improve the customer experience, sales productivity, and four-wall profitability. Reporting to the VP of Retail, the Director partners closely with the Director of Retail, Retail Demand Planner, and cross-functional teams. The role influences product decisions, optimizes merchandising performance, and establishes the tools, processes, and standards required to support continued retail expansion. The Director owns visual merchandising strategy and execution across stores, develops presentation standards and seasonal playbooks, and leads data-informed decisions about product presentation, assortment, inventory, and space productivity. The role also develops field merchandising capabilities, supports new store openings and remodels, coordinates with partners across the business, and establishes performance measures and operational processes. This is a fully remote position with frequent travel.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive retail visual merchandising experience, including significant leadership experience in multi-store retail organizations and effective cross-functional collaboration.
Experience supporting new store openings, retail expansion, and multiple store formats.
Proven experience developing and leading visual merchandising strategies that measurably improve sales performance, product productivity, and profitability.
Strong commercial acumen and deep understanding of retail financial performance, merchandise planning, inventory management, and retail KPIs.
Demonstrated ability to use data and analytics to inform merchandising decisions, influence product strategies, and drive business results.
Experience building or significantly evolving visual merchandising functions, including processes, tools, standards, and scalable operating structures.
Strong understanding of retail assortment architecture, product storytelling, space planning, and customer shopping behavior.
Proven ability to influence senior leadership and cross-functional partners, particularly across Product, Planning, Marketing, and Retail Operations.
Experience partnering directly with Planning and Product teams to influence assortment decisions and retail inventory investments.
Experience developing and leading high-performing teams, coaching field leaders, and building organizational capabilities.
Strategic thinking combined with a hands-on approach to execution and problem-solving.
Excellent communication, organizational, and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Comfort operating in a high-growth, entrepreneurial retail environment and willingness to travel frequently.

Nice To Haves

Experience building or scaling a visual merchandising function within a high-growth, digitally native, or direct-to-consumer brand expanding into physical retail.

Responsibilities

Own the vision, strategy, and execution of Comfrt’s retail visual merchandising function, with accountability for commercial performance.
Develop consistent brand presentation standards, product placement principles, floor-set strategies, space allocation guidelines, and seasonal merchandising playbooks.
Create scalable tools, systems, processes, directives, and guides for visual execution across stores, accounting for store format, customer behavior, regional demand, and inventory availability.
Balance brand storytelling with commercial performance to improve product visibility, customer engagement, and store productivity.
Partner with Retail Demand Planning and Product teams to inform product buys, assortment architecture, category opportunities, product depth, inventory investments, and future product development.
Analyze product performance, sell-through, inventory productivity, category contribution, customer shopping patterns, and store-level results; translate insights into recommendations and merchandising actions.
Establish a recurring cadence of data-driven reporting and performance reviews, and adjust merchandising strategies based on sales trends, inventory positions, and store performance.
Partner with Retail Planning and Operations on strategies for underperforming products, excess inventory, new product introductions, and key selling periods.
Develop visual merchandising capabilities across the retail organization, including training, coaching, feedback, professional development, audits, and accountability standards for field and store teams.
Partner with the Director of Retail, District Managers, and Store Managers to ensure strategies are understood, executed consistently, and connected to business results.
Establish field communication and feedback structures and conduct regular market visits to evaluate execution and customer behavior.
Own visual merchandising strategy and execution for new store openings, remodels, and major store transitions.
Support new store assortment planning, initial inventory investments, product allocation, opening merchandising strategies, and store-specific merchandising plans.
Collaborate with Store Development and Retail Operations on layouts, fixtures, merchandising infrastructure, opening processes, timelines, readiness checklists, and execution expectations.
Evaluate post-opening merchandising performance and apply learnings to future store planning and standards.
Partner with Retail Marketing, Brand, and Creative to translate campaigns, product launches, promotions, and activations into in-store experiences.
Represent the retail customer in cross-functional planning and share insights on customer preferences, product performance, assortment opportunities, and retail trends.
Develop merchandising strategies and KPIs that support sales growth, conversion, average transaction value, product productivity, and four-wall profitability.
Build analytical frameworks to measure space productivity, category performance, product placement effectiveness, and merchandising return on investment.
Use test-and-learn approaches to evaluate placement strategies, fixture configurations, and presentation concepts before scaling successful initiatives.
Develop operational processes and execution standards that reduce complexity and improve consistency as the retail footprint expands.
Own visual merchandising budgets, resource allocation, and investment recommendations, including throughout the new store opening process.
Provide regular business updates and strategic recommendations to retail leadership.
Develop and lead high-performing teams, coach field leaders, and build organizational capabilities.