General Merchandiser - Pet Beds, Pillows, Throws & Travel
About The Position
The General Merchandiser is the end-to-end business owner for the product category, responsible for category P&L performance, strategy, assortment, pricing parameters, and in-market results. The role leads a cross-functional pod spanning Product Development, Design, and Brand, and works with Sourcing from concept through commercialization and performance management. The General Merchandiser uses market, trend, and sales data to drive category innovation and works with stakeholders such as Sales, Finance, and Operations to communicate and execute product strategy in alignment with company and financial objectives. The role requires a deep understanding of end consumers, retail buyers, and customer use cases to create assortments that meet consumer needs and deliver clear value propositions.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- 8–12+ years of experience in merchandising, category management, or general management within consumer goods or home goods categories.
- Creative mindset and excellent commercial and financial acumen.
- Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.
- Deep understanding of consumer product assortments and line planning.
- Strong executive communication and decision-making skills.
- Skilled in sourcing, production, design, and manufacturing processes.
Nice To Haves
- Demonstrated P&L ownership is a plus.
- Experience in the home goods category is ideal.
- Prior experience owning assortment and margin decisions is strongly preferred.
Responsibilities
- Own and define category strategy, including growth objectives, retail targets, SKU guardrails, and innovation priorities.
- Synthesize customer, market, trend, and performance insights into a clear line strategy.
- Lead line planning, ensuring alignment with brand, customer, and financial objectives, and present category strategies and line plans for executive and cross-functional approval.
- Apply in-market learnings to future line plans to improve category productivity.
- Build and maintain assortment architecture, including good/better/best tiers, price tiers, new versus carryover products, and brands versus private label.
- Understand category target margins and set pricing in partnership with Sourcing to support financial goals; support retailer-, product-, and brand-level margin targets.
- Partner with Sourcing and Sales to validate cost feasibility and margin integrity.
- Make final decisions on assortment inclusion, pricing guardrails, and category trade-offs.
- Lead the category pod and align Product Development, Design, Sourcing, Sales, and Brand.
- Set pod priorities, timelines, and decision cadence, and schedule regular stakeholder reviews.
- Resolve trade-offs among cost, design, timing, and customer needs.
- Ensure PLM data is accurate and up to date, and develop complete Tech Packs for each collection.
- Partner with Sales to ensure assortments meet customer requirements and market realities and drive market share across customers.
- Join customer meetings with Sales to present product stories and support program pitches.
- Support sell-in with category storytelling, pricing rationale, and product differentiation.
- Adhere to Brand DNA and ensure products meet pricing and quality standards.
- Own final assortment decisions by customer or channel where applicable.
- Review sell-through, actual margins, returns, and inventory health with Sales to make category decisions.
- Lead SKU rationalization and product lifecycle decisions, including discontinuing, refreshing, or expanding products.
- Feed performance insights into future line planning cycles.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
