Retail & Merchandising Strategy Manager

Fujifilm•Valhalla, NY

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Retail & Merchandising Strategy Manager is responsible for defining and owning the strategic frameworks that elevate in-store execution, merchandising effectiveness, and retail performance across the dealer channel. This role operates as a strategic owner, not an advisory function. It establishes standards, playbooks, performance models, and insight-driven strategies that enable retail partners and internal teams to deliver a consistent, high-quality brand experience across physical and digital retail environments. The role balances long-term strategy with near-term execution, operating effectively in a build-phase environment where frameworks are developed, tested, refined, and scaled.

Requirements

8–12 years of experience in retail strategy, merchandising strategy, dealer development, or channel enablement roles.
Proven experience building scalable retail frameworks in partnership with independent retailers or dealer networks.
Strong understanding of retail economics, in-store execution, and performance analytics.
Demonstrated ability to lead change and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
Comfortable operating in ambiguity and build-phase environments.

Responsibilities

Own the development and ongoing evolution of retail and merchandising strategy across the dealer channel.
Define retail frameworks, standards, and performance models with clear decision rights and accountability.
Identify, design, and lead pilot programs to test new retail concepts, tools, or merchandising approaches.
Evaluate outcomes and determine when initiatives are refined, scaled, or discontinued.
Establish adaptable merchandising principles, visual standards, and in-store experience guidelines that support retailers of varying sizes and formats.
Develop playbooks, toolkits, and reference materials that translate strategy into practical, executable guidance.
Ensure standards are designed to be adopted through value creation rather than enforcement.
Lead the collection and synthesis of retailer feedback, in-store observations, consumer behavior insights, and competitive intelligence.
Translate qualitative and quantitative insights into actionable retail and merchandising strategies.
Benchmark best-in-class retail and merchandising practices across premium, specialty, and adjacent categories, adapting what’s relevant for the dealer channel.
Use customer and competitive insights to inform product positioning, in-store education, experiential priorities, and the ongoing evolution of retail frameworks.
Define how physical retail environments and supporting digital tools work together to improve the customer journey.
Ensure retail and digital touchpoints are complementary and do not create channel conflict.
Provide strategic guidance on integrating digital content, education, and tools into the in-store experience.
Establish KPIs and benchmarks tied to retail effectiveness, including sell-through, merchandising performance, traffic conversion, inventory productivity, and customer engagement.
Own retail performance reporting frameworks and regularly review insights with internal stakeholders.
Translate performance data into actionable recommendations that drive measurable commercial outcomes.
Lead change management efforts to drive adoption of retail strategies across internal teams and retail partners.
Build feedback loops that incorporate retailer input and real-world performance into strategy refinement.
Support rollout plans that balance consistency with flexibility and respect retailer autonomy.
Equip sales, marketing, and dealer support teams with the tools and knowledge needed to reinforce retail strategy.
Partner with training and dealer development teams to integrate retail standards into education and onboarding efforts.
Ensure cross-functional alignment so retail strategies are consistently supported across the organization.
Present retail strategies, pilot results, and performance insights to senior leadership.
Provide forward-looking recommendations that inform long-term retail and channel planning.
Operate as a trusted strategic partner to leadership on matters related to retail execution and development.