Senior Director, Merchandising

Davids Bridal•King of Prussia, PA

13d

About The Position

The Senior Director, Merchandising sets and owns the total merchandising vision, strategy and financial performance for the Bridal, Dress and Accessories divisions. Leading a team of four Buyers and their teams, the Senior Director translates enterprise growth objectives into a differentiated, profitable, omni-channel assortment strategy — accountable for sales, margin, inventory productivity, market share and EBITDA growth. This is a leader-of-leaders role that combines trend and brand vision, deep retail and financial acumen, and organizational leadership: building benchmark-strength teams, forging cross-functional alignment, and representing the business to senior and executive leadership. Channel Scope: Full omni-channel accountability across six key routes to market — Bricks, Ecom, Consignment/Shop-in-Shop, Store-in-Store, Marketplace and Wholesale — with divisional strategies, assortments and economics optimized for each channel's role.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree required, or 10+ years of related experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
10+ years of increasingly responsible merchandising experience, including prior Divisional Merchandise Manager (DMM) or equivalent leadership experience.
Demonstrated P&L ownership of a business - delivering sales, margin and EBITDA results.
Multi-category / multi-division leadership experience across differing product and buying models.
Experience directly managing and developing a team of Buyers, including hiring, performance management and succession.
Omni-channel merchandising experience spanning bricks, eCommerce, marketplace and wholesale, with product development / private-label experience strongly preferred.
Proven track record developing and executing business strategy, leading teams to results, and managing the performance and career development of leaders.
Strong retail math, analytical and financial acumen; proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel and PowerPoint) and adept at leveraging AI tools to drive efficiency, accelerate analysis and elevate decision-making.
Strong fashion sense and taste level, strategic and critical thinking, executive communication, and the ability to lead constructively with urgency, integrity and a relentless commitment to results.

Nice To Haves

product development / private-label experience strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Set the merchandising vision. Create, own and execute the long-range plan and business strategy for Merchandising in partnership with SVP, translating enterprise growth objectives into category and channel roadmaps.
Drive profitable growth. Develop innovative solutions to drive sales, grow market share and deliver EBITDA growth; identify white-space opportunities and build the plans to capture them.
Own the omni-channel strategy. Define and evolve the strategy across all six channels, ensuring product, price, presentation and economics are optimized for each channel's role and margin structure.
Read the business. Continually analyze the business to surface opportunities to increase sales and mitigate risk, pivoting strategy and investment as trend dictates.
Direct the assortment architecture. Define and oversee a assortment architecture that achieves the target mix of fashion, quality and price and meets the varying needs and preferences of the David's Bridal customer.
Shape the line & product. Partner with Merchants, Design and Product Development on line framework, fabrics, silhouettes and design direction; guide the sample procurement, review and selection process.
Optimize by channel. Set assortment strategy by channel — including channel-specific and capsule offers for Marketplace, Wholesale and Shop-in-Shop partners.
Align creative & go-to-market. Champion the seasonal creative vision with Visual, Marketing and Digital, aligning merchandise presentation, campaign messaging and go-to-market execution.
Own the P&L. Own divisional sales, margin and EBITDA performance; partner with Planning to develop seasonal financial goals and manage in-season to meet or exceed plan.
Partner for planning excellence. Build a strong, collaborative partnership with the VP, Planning, Demand Planning and Merch Analytics to align on financial targets, forecasts, assortment plans and inventory strategy — leveraging shared analytics and a single source of truth to drive faster, better-informed decisions.
Direct financial strategy. Set open-to-buy, pricing and promotional strategy with Planning, pivoting as needed on business trend to protect margin and full-price sell-through.
Scale eCommerce. Grow eCommerce sales and margin as a core divisional priority, holding teams accountable to conversion, penetration and profitability targets.
Drive inventory productivity. In close partnership with VP, Planning, Demand Planning and Merch Analytics, ensure adherence to turn and GMROI$ benchmarks through disciplined Pareto analysis, demand-driven inventory flow, in-stock optimization, and proactive life-cycle and liquidation management across all six channels.
Build benchmark-strength teams. Lead, supervise and develop Buyers and their teams; make decisions on hiring, performance, counseling, promotion and retention.
Develop talent. Coach and grow the next generation of merchant leaders, creating career pathways and a culture of accountability, urgency and constructive feedback.
Forge cross-functional alignment. Build and maintain productive cross-functional partnerships with Design, Product Development, Planning, Finance, Marketing, Visual, eCommerce, Stores, the DC and external vendors.
Represent the division. Lead buying, milestone and cross-functional meetings; provide weekly updates to Executive Leadership on business status, risks and opportunities.