Manager Visual Merchandising

Ulta Beauty, Inc.•Bolingbrook, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is responsible for developing and activating the holistic visual merchandising strategies for all Ulta Beauty categories, primarily focused on branded fixture display development. Acting as the voice of the store experience for this category, this role will act as the strategic partner to Merchants and Brand partners to translate business and brand strategies into fully integrated visual merchandising programs. Key focus will be upon creating a consistent signature for the department that clearly relates to the overall store’s experience standards, ensuring that all visual presentations fully synthesize the optimal combination of product presentation, graphic communication, guest desirability, and ease of shopping. The role will partner closely with Creative, Merchants, planogramming teams, retail operations teams, and store design to ensure concepts are taken from development into production and store-level execution.

Requirements

Minimum 8 years of experience within corporate visual merchandising organizations or design focused retail design houses, optimally complimented with in-store working experience.
Proficiency in visual merchandising, product merchandising, and in-store implementation.
Undergraduate degree in relevant fields (Marketing, Design, Visual Merchandising, Project Management) and/or equivalent field experience focused on visual merchandising is an advantage.
Depth of experience with the interconnection between store fixtures, graphic communication, product merchandising and store operations.
Ability to work through prototypes and sample store set-ups in mock store environments and to work with suppliers on production requirements.
Ability to lead and influence diverse partners to scope projects, lead change management, and build comprehensive programs for launches and updates.
Strong written and oral communication skills to convey project concepts, statuses and presentation standards to a variety of partners.
Fluency in software programs as required to visualize and communicate concepts, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Monday.com and project management tools.
Minimum 3+ years of experience managing and developing teams in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
Proven ability to lead, coach, and hold teams accountable while fostering a collaborative and empowered team culture.
Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities, create structure, and drive solutions in complex environments.
Experience building and maintaining relationships with brands and vendors, including navigating challenging dynamics.

Responsibilities

Develop department-wide visual merchandising approaches that optimally manifest the strategies for all Ulta Beauty categories.
Manage a team of visual merchandising analysts in their development of visual programs, seamlessly merging planograms with fixturing and graphic elements and maintaining a holistic guest experience across the department.
Partner closely with Merchants and Space Planning teams to translate business and brand strategies into consistent and compelling visual merchandising strategies.
Partner with Ulta Beauty Collection to develop best in class visual merchandising expressions for our namesake brand.
Work in partnership with Store Design & Experience to document project development and manage timeliness from brief through store execution.
Oversee the branded fixture development for all beauty categories, providing compelling individual presentations for each brand while preserving the consistency of guest experience and overall visual presentation standards.
Integrate transition planning into the overall departmental vision, collaborating with merchants, creative operations and brands to ensure execution consistent with Ulta and brand objectives.
Develop visual merchandising directives for stores that clearly convey visual merchandising objectives, ensure consistency of execution, and anticipate crucial details required by store teams to bring visual programs to life as envisioned.
Maintain a high-level awareness of upcoming strategies and beauty trend knowledge to anticipate required design development.