Merchandising Manager - Category Management, Diamond Basics

Blue Nile•New York, NY

2h•$100,000 - $140,000

About The Position

Blue Nile is seeking a Manager of Category Management, Diamond Basics to drive the day-to-day strategy, performance, and evolution of its Diamond Basics assortment. The role combines merchant instincts, diamond and product knowledge, customer understanding, and analytical rigor to optimize category-level assortment, pricing, natural and lab-grown mix, product lifecycle, inventory, and new product activity. The manager partners with the Director of Category Management and cross-functional teams to translate broader strategies into actionable plans and ensure products are presented clearly and effectively online and in stores. The position manages the Diamond Basics assortment across earrings, pendants, necklaces, and bracelets, including natural and lab-grown diamond offerings. It develops assortment architecture and product ladders, evaluates SKU and attribute productivity, identifies opportunities for assortment expansion or rationalization, and aligns inventory with product productivity and strategic importance. The manager monitors commercial performance, recommends changes to assortment, pricing, promotions, inventory investment, and site exposure, and partners with Pricing, Finance, and Planning to maintain competitive pricing while protecting profitability. The role also partners with Product Development, Design, Sourcing, and Planning to turn category opportunities into product briefs and bring products from concept through launch and post-launch analysis. It uses business results, competitive intelligence, customer behavior, and market trends to identify innovation opportunities and recommend whether products should be scaled, adjusted, or exited.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, Economics, Analytics, Marketing, or a related field.
3–5+ years of experience in merchandising; diamond expertise is preferred.
Strategic mindset and ability to translate complex data into actionable business strategies.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with shifting priorities.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with proficiency in Excel, SQL, Tableau, or similar platforms.
Strong leadership skills.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments.

Nice To Haves

Diamond expertise.

Responsibilities

Manage day-to-day performance and execution of the Diamond Basics businesses in partnership with the Director of Category Management.
Translate broader category strategies into actionable assortment, pricing, product, inventory, and merchandising plans.
Develop expertise in category customer missions, shopping behaviors, and competitive dynamics.
Maintain clear roles for natural and lab-grown diamonds and identify opportunities to evolve the mix based on customer demand and business performance.
Identify assortment white space across product type, diamond shape, carat weight, setting, metal, price point, and customer need.
Develop fact-based recommendations on where to invest, expand, test, maintain, reposition, or exit.
Balance assortment breadth and customer choice with a curated Blue Nile point of view.
Partner with Site Merchandising, Creative, Marketing, Technology, and Retail to present Diamond Basics in an inspiring, understandable, and intuitive way online and in stores.
Establish product priorities for category pages, search, sort, recommendations, storytelling, marketing, and promotional placements.
Ensure hero products and key assortment stories receive appropriate visibility, balancing proven core products with strategic newness and growth opportunities.
Translate complex product differences into clear merchandising stories and provide Retail partners with product priorities and category stories for Client Advisors.
Manage the Diamond Basics assortment across earrings, pendants, necklaces, and bracelets, covering natural and lab-grown diamonds.
Build assortment architecture across carat weight, diamond type, setting, metal, silhouette, and price; establish good/better/best and opening/core/premium product ladders where appropriate.
Ensure coverage of core customer needs while identifying opportunities for newness and assortment expansion.
Analyze SKU- and attribute-level productivity to identify gaps, duplication, and rationalization opportunities.
Identify and scale winning product concepts while maintaining a strategic rationale for long-tail SKUs.
Partner with Demand Planning to align inventory depth and availability with product productivity and strategic importance.
Monitor performance across revenue, units, average selling price, margin, conversion, inventory productivity, and customer engagement.
Analyze performance differences across natural and lab-grown, preset and customizable products, price tiers, carat weights, metals, and product classifications.
Use performance data to recommend assortment, pricing, promotion, inventory investment, and site exposure changes.
Work with Pricing, Finance, and Planning to maintain competitive price architecture while protecting margin and profitability.
Partner with the Director, Product Development, Design, Sourcing, and Planning to translate category opportunities into new-product briefs.
Use business performance, competitive intelligence, customer behavior, and emerging diamond and jewelry trends to identify innovation opportunities.
Recommend extensions of winning products across diamond type, shape, carat weight, metal, setting, and price point.
Develop commercial guardrails for new products, including target price positioning, assortment role, and expected customer need.
Support launches from concept through assortment planning, launch readiness, digital presentation, and post-launch analysis.
Establish success criteria and recommend whether products should be scaled, adjusted, or exited following launch.