Retail Director - Designer - Seattle, WA (Hybrid)

Nordstrom•Seattle, WA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Retail Director, Designer is the essential bridge between our buying and merchandising strategy and the stores. This leader ensures that the vision set at the category level — across Designer Women’s, Men’s, and Handbags — is executed with precision, consistency, and excellence on the selling floor. While our buyers own the product and brand strategy, the Retail Director owns how that strategy comes to life in stores. This role is the voice of the store in the buying organization and the voice of the buying organization in the stores.

Requirements

Designer Women’s, Men’s, and Handbags category experience
Experience translating buying and merchandising strategy to store execution
Experience in product placement, visual presentation, and shop-in-shop environments
Experience with assortment localization and market analysis
Experience partnering with Visual Merchandising
Experience onboarding and developing store managers
Experience building product knowledge, brand standards, and selling skills
Experience developing selling ceremony frameworks
Experience driving clienteling, regular price sell-through, and customer loyalty
Experience monitoring in-store execution and identifying best practices
Experience representing store perspective to buying teams
Experience building brand partner relationships at the store execution level
Experience driving sales performance through store teams
Experience leading and developing store-facing talent
Experience serving as a strategic connector between buying, operations, and the selling floor

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary connector between the Designer buying team, Creative / Fashion Director, and store leadership — translating category strategy into clear, actionable direction for selling floors across the fleet
Own in-store execution across the Designer division — ensuring product placement, visual presentation, and shop-in-shop environments are maintained to brand standards in partnership with brand partners and the buying team
Lead floor placement and assortment localization with Planning and Buying — ensuring each door has the right brand mix and product depth for its customer and market
Partner with Visual Merchandising to bring seasonal brand stories and product launches to life consistently and with an elevated aesthetic across all Designer doors
Own the onboarding of new store and department managers — building product knowledge, brand standards, and selling skills from day one, and developing a selling ceremony framework that drives clienteling, regular price sell-through, and long-term loyalty with the luxury Designer customer
Monitor in-store execution across the fleet — identifying gaps, sharing best practices, and representing the store perspective back to the buying team with on-the-ground feedback on customer response and execution opportunities
Own the in-store execution and presentation strategy for Designer categories, ensuring buying vision is translated to the selling floor with consistency and excellence
Build and maintain brand partner relationships at the store execution level, protecting shop-in-shop standards and brand representation across the fleet
Drive Designer category sales performance by equipping store teams with the tools, knowledge, and direction to engage and convert the Designer customer
Lead and develop store-facing talent and serve as the strategic connector between buying, operations, and the selling floor