Divisional Merchandise Manager - Men's Bottoms

AEO • New York, NY

119d

About The Position

Direct the merchandise assortments and promotional strategies for a profitable Men’s Omni Channel business; conceptualize and direct the product life cycle from design through Customer purchase. Responsible for the overall management of a merchant team: including supervision, mentoring, training, hiring and performance management. Maximize profit margin and meet financial goals while partnering with internal departments (i.e. Design, Planning, Marketing) to create effective business strategies.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Merchandising, Business, or equivalent required
• 10+ years prior buying experience from a specialty retailer
• 6+ years experience in a leadership role
• Prior Merchandising experience in Men’s apparel/bottoms preferred
• Ability to manage a cross functional team including a Merchandising team
• Prioritizes development of people and team and inclusively motivates and challenges direct reports to hit their highest potential
• Aggressive and passionate individual will be most successful in this and future roles
• Keen sense of fashion exhibited through personal taste
• Understanding of aspirational labels and how to interpret their seasonal stories/messages for the AE Men’s customer both domestically and internationally
• Excellent analytical and creative skills to challenge the planning and design sides of the organization
• Demonstrated poise, tact and diplomacy
• Risk Taker - Carefully considers risk/reward, ready to try new ways of doing things to improve learning
• Forward Thinking/Innovative – Not satisfied with the status quo, ahead of the times, advanced views
• Persuasive - Able to motivate others through the appropriate use of interpersonal styles and communication methods
• Strategic – Possesses the ability to conceptualize and understand risks facing a business as well as the ability to create a strategy surrounding a specific opportunity
• Strong analytical, prioritizing, interpersonal, problem-solving, presentation, budgeting, project management, & planning skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Travel is required, including the potential for international travel
• High degree of proficiency MS Office Suite, Outlook & Internet applications
• Demonstrated collaborative skills and ability to work well within a team
• Ability to work with and influence peers and senior management
• Ability to work in a fast-paced and deadline-oriented environment
• Self-motivated with critical attention to detail, deadlines and reporting

Responsibilities

• Develop a merchandise strategy that is Brand focused
• Create forward looking plans/priorities/direction for Men’s division
• Provide inspiration to the Design and Merchandise Teams in order to be a fashion leader for the AE Customer
• Work closely with Design team to interpret and forecast trends for Men’s Bottoms division
• Collaborate with Design and Production to make appropriate and timely decisions to execute deliveries to scheduled floorsets
• Lead team through divisional strategies and plans that presents a single vision at point-of-sale
• Develop a Team of promotable professionals who can meet the future needs of the business
• Champion a Team environment that cross functionally comes to a collaborative result: Planning/Inventory Planning, Design, Sourcing/Production and Merchandising
• Provide direction to business partners in order to maximize business/profitability opportunities
• Initiate suggestions and ideas to improve the business
• Manage the daily, weekly, monthly reorganization of priorities in order to maintain control of the business and maximize profits

Benefits

• Health care benefits (including medical, vision, and dental)
• Wellness benefits
• 401(k) retirement benefits
• Life and disability insurance
• Employee stock purchase program
• Paid time off
• Paid sick leave
• Parental leave and benefits
• Discretionary bonuses and other incentives

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees