Manager, Inventory Control & Process Improvement

Blue Nile•New York, NY

22d

About The Position

The Manager, Inventory Control & Process Improvement is a newly created, highly visible role responsible for the accuracy, control, and health of Blue Nile's inventory. The role owns inventory process improvement and control end to end, including inventory counts across all departments, ownership of the Fantasy inventory system as Super User, inventory movements for repairs and returns, and reduction of aged and inactive inventory. The Manager leads Inventory Coordinators and partners with Merchandising, Operations, Planning, Quality Control, Finance, and Technology to ensure inventory decisions are executed precisely and aligned with business strategy. The role addresses complex challenges involving legacy inventory, returns and repairs, quality decisions, financial implications, systems, and operational processes. It is responsible for resolving existing inventory issues, identifying root causes, and building scalable processes and controls to prevent recurrence. Direct jewelry-industry experience is highly valued, including understanding product lifecycle, manufacturing processes, assortment structures, and high-value, serialized inventory. The Manager oversees inventory controls and process improvements, serves as the business owner for inventory functionality in Fantasy, coordinates reverse logistics and quality-related inventory flows, and leads aged and inactive inventory reduction. The role also manages and develops a team, leads strategic inventory projects, collaborates cross-functionally, and uses reporting and KPIs to improve inventory visibility and workflow health.

Requirements

6–8 years of experience in inventory management, inventory control, supply chain, or operations, ideally within the jewelry or luxury industry.
3+ years of people leadership experience, managing a team and leading cross-functional projects.
Proven experience leading cycle counts and physical inventories, reconciling variances, and implementing inventory controls for high-value inventory.
Hands-on Super User or business-owner experience with an ERP or inventory system, such as Fantasy, SAP, or similar, including user administration, training, requirements gathering, and user acceptance testing.
Experience managing returns, repairs, and quality-related inventory flows, and reducing aged or inactive inventory.
Strong process orientation and a proven ability to design workflows, implement structure, and build scalability.
Advanced Excel skills, including analyzing large datasets, building models, and translating data into actionable insights.
Excellent communication and training skills, with the ability to present to and influence senior leadership.
High attention to detail and accuracy; operational rigor and systems thinking; continuous improvement and root-cause problem-solving; strong leadership, coaching, and team development; ability to train others and drive system adoption; cross-functional collaboration and influence; ability to manage through ambiguity; ownership, accountability, and follow-through; and comfort working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Nice To Haves

Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, or other process improvement certification, with demonstrated experience applying continuous improvement methods to complex operational processes.
Direct experience with Fantasy.
Experience with SQL or BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
Direct experience in the jewelry industry and a strong understanding of product lifecycle, manufacturing processes, assortment structures, and high-value, serialized inventory.

Responsibilities

Plan, coordinate, and oversee cycle counts and physical inventory counts across all departments; set schedules and procedures, investigate and reconcile variances, and drive root-cause corrective actions.
Design, document, and continuously improve inventory workflows across product intake, processing, movement, and reconciliation, including standardized SOPs and clear ownership.
Identify and close inventory-control gaps across the product lifecycle; create scalable controls, approval rules, and ownership models.
Serve as the cross-functional point of contact for inventory transfers, adjustments, and reclassifications, ensuring movements are authorized, transacted, and reconciled.
Maintain audit readiness by ensuring inventory records, adjustments, and supporting documentation meet internal control and financial audit requirements.
Serve as Fantasy Super User and primary business owner for inventory functionality, acting as the first escalation point for users.
Manage Fantasy user profiles, roles, and permissions; maintain segregation of duties and periodically review access.
Train and onboard users, and develop and maintain training materials, SOPs, and job aids.
Gather and prioritize business requirements, partner with Technology on system enhancements and reporting, and lead user acceptance testing, rollout, and adoption.
Troubleshoot system and transaction issues, resolve or escalate them, and track recurring issues to permanent fixes.
Coordinate inventory movements for repairs and returns, ensuring units are tracked, system status is accurate, and items are promptly returned to sellable stock, vendors, or final disposition.
Support Quality Control with inspection outcomes and disposition decisions, ensuring decisions are accurately reflected in inventory and financial records.
Monitor repair and return cycle times and aging in reverse-logistics locations, and address bottlenecks with Customer Service, Operations, and vendors.
Lead the aged and inactive inventory reduction program by identifying and quantifying slow-moving, inactive, and legacy inventory and setting disposition strategies with Merchandising, Planning, and Finance.
Lead remediation of legacy and inactive inventory issues and establish processes to prevent new aged inventory from accumulating.
Partner with FP&A to quantify financial impacts, including reserves and write-downs, and track progress against reduction targets.
Manage, mentor, and develop Inventory Coordinators responsible for daily inventory operations, counts, system transactions, and project execution.
Oversee team workload planning, performance management, and cross-training.
Lead high-priority inventory projects, including workflow redesigns, system and process improvements, audit readiness, and inventory control models.
Partner with Merchandising, Planning, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality Control, Finance, and Technology to ensure inventory processes and policies are understood, implemented, and monitored.
Collaborate with FP&A and Planning to quantify the financial impact of inventory decisions and support inventory-related forecasting.
Work with Analytics and Technology to build dashboards, reports, and tools that improve visibility into inventory accuracy, movements, and workflow health.
Monitor and report KPIs including count accuracy, inventory adjustments, aged and inactive inventory, repair and return cycle times, stock availability, DOH, shrink, and operational throughput.