Senior Manager, Merchandise Designer - Furniture & Lighting

Walmart • Bentonville, AR

3d • $110,000 - $220,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Indoor/Outdoor Furniture Design leads the creative vision, design execution, and development of indoor, outdoor, and kids furniture categories as extensions of larger Walmart Brands. This role blends hands-on creative design with strategic leadership, trend development, and operational excellence. Experience with lighting is a plus. This position supports all Walmart Brands while partnering closely with Product Development, Merchandising, and Quality teams to deliver cohesive, trend-right, and commercially viable collections. Assortment refinement and extension strategies — identifying areas of opportunity and oversaturation — are key capabilities of this role.

Requirements

• Degree in Product Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, or related field (outdoor focus preferred).
• 4+ years of relevant experience in furniture design.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, CAD/Rhino, or comparable rendering programs.
• Excellent color, material, and finish sensibility with strong trend awareness.
• Strong understanding of the furniture and outdoor living market.
• Solid communication and interpersonal skills.
• Understanding of furniture construction and assembly
• Proactive team player with strong organizational capabilities.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving retail environment.
• Ability to hand draw, sketch or render to clearly communicate design direction to key parters and vendors.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, design, or related area and 4 years’ experience in design, merchandising, marketing, or related area.
• 6 years’ experience in design, merchandising, marketing, or related area.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with lighting is a plus.
• Experience with a wide range of fabrications and substrates, wood types and laminates.
• Retailers with strong style relevance.
• Familiarity with global manufacturing environments, particularly in India.
• Master’s degree in liberal arts or relevant field.
• Creative design software
• Cross-functional project management
• Design, product development, or manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Drive cohesive, trend-relevant collections for outdoor living across furniture and accessory categories.
• Translate aspirational aesthetics into forward-thinking, mass-market product solutions.
• Demonstrate a keen understanding of aesthetics ranging from traditional and updated farmhouse to transitional and contemporary.
• Develop and evolve multiple collections across seasons simultaneously.
• Establish and maintain strong partnerships with Merchant and Product Development teams.
• Collaborate with PD to develop product, identify white space, and build collections that balance classic essentials with new and exclusive designs unique to Walmart.
• Align merchant strategies with overarching trend vision and brand direction.
• Ability to hand draw, sketch or render to clearly communicate design direction to key parters and vendors.
• Respond to business requests in a timely and agile manner.
• Lead project tracking and milestone management across multiple workstreams.
• Spearhead regular alignment meetings with Merchandising and Design partners.
• Review assortments at the CAD level and recommend streamlining opportunities to strengthen clarity and productivity.
• Monitor global and domestic market trends in indoor and outdoor furniture.
• Analyze competitive assortments and identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation.
• Develop seasonal trend decks, concept direction, and material/finish strategies.
• Balance trend relevance with durability, functionality, and price-point accessibility.
• Utilize Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and CAD/Rhino or comparable furniture rendering programs to communicate concepts and specifications.
• Demonstrate understanding of construction methods, materiality, fabrication techniques, and finish applications across furniture categories.
• Ensure design intent translates effectively through sampling, costing, and production phases.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to maintain quality, cost integrity, and timeline execution.
• Lead end-to-end design from concept through retail launch.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships across Merchandising, PD, Sourcing, and Quality teams.
• Communicate design strategies clearly to internal stakeholders and vendor partners.
• Travel as needed to support development, factory partnerships, and global sourcing initiatives.
• Foster a collaborative and proactive team environment.

Benefits

• Incentive awards for performance
• 401(k) match
• Stock purchase plan
• Paid maternity and parental leave
• PTO
• Multiple health plans
• Medical coverage
• Vision coverage
• Dental coverage
• Company-paid life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Family care leave
• Bereavement leave
• Jury duty leave
• Voting leave
• Short-term disability
• Long-term disability
• Company discounts
• Military Leave Pay
• Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
• PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes
• Walmart-paid education benefit program (Live Better U) for full-time and part-time associates
• Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart for Live Better U programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior