Freelance Merchandiser

BDA • Woodinville, WA

20h • $35 - $45 • Hybrid

About The Position

This is a freelance/contract, hourly role. Will be responsible for independently developing, sourcing, and curating compelling and profitable product assortments for our clients. Negotiate and develop strategic supplier relationships. The merchandiser must earn the trust of internal and external customers by building assortment strategies that deliver creative and profitable products that represent the clients’ brands and speak to the end customer. May be responsible for developing direct reports.
BDA’s ideal merchant is ambitious in nature, detail oriented, comfortable working in cross-functional teams, and passionate about the retail and ecommerce industry. They are organized and adept at time management skills.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of work and experience.
• Minimum 3-5 years of retail buying, product development, merchandising and/or planning experience.
• Fluency in MS Office suite including Excel, Word, PowerPoint.
• Experience initiating, recommending, and implementing merchandise strategies.
• Strong understanding of and ability to apply market intelligence.
• Understanding of retail and the service environment.
• Experience identifying and interpreting product trends.
• Experience analyzing and applying consumer data.
• Track record of building profitable assortment plans.
• Skilled at cross functional influence.
• Experience working with accounts or retail stores to deliver profitable and relevant assortments.
• Works and communicates effectively with cross divisional leadership.
• Actively demonstrates managerial courage and is an advocate for their teams.
• Consensus building skills - Ability to persuade co-workers of the benefits of positive changes.
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication and strong interpersonal skills.

Nice To Haves

• Retail and customer service experience preferred.
• Smartsheet experience a plus.
• PLM/Oracle experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Participate in Assortment Analysis meetings and contribute to pre-assortment strategy discussion.
• Define seasonal product strategies that identify future opportunities and trends.
• Ability to take current trends and translate into creative product applicable to client business type.
• Gather new/relevant trend info from WGSN and other trend resources in preparation for new line development.
• Negotiate, build and source strategic and profitable product assortments.
• Independently drive sales through the selection of product, pricing and return on investment.
• Use current and historical data to evaluate what is working effectively or not and create actionable insights that inform the line architecture.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical thinking and how to apply to the business.
• Run weekly merchandise status calls with clients and internal WIP meetings as needed.
• Ensure successful product line presentations to clients.
• Use data and influencing skills to gain partnership from internal partners and clients on assortment strategies to ensure profitability.
• Share productivity of assortment with accounts and internal partners.
• Confidence and ability to articulate and sell a concept to a business team.
• Responsible for areas including compliance, quality, and operational metrics (metrics including compliance, alliance partners, product margin, etc.).
• Negotiate buying terms with suppliers (price, quantity, quality, delivery, etc.).
• Oversee the execution of product launches.

Benefits

• BDA is more than a workplace - it’s a family. For more than four decades we’ve promoted a vibrant and welcoming culture that not only accepts but demands you to be different. The quirky, the bold, the creative and the unique make up the foundation of a company that the most iconic brands in the world look to help tell their story through the power of merchandise.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Mid Level