Senior Program Manager, Inventory Exhaust - HYBRID (Seattle, WA)

Nordstrom•Seattle, WA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Nordstrom is looking for a Senior Program Manager, Inventory Exhaust to lead the programs that maximize recovery on returns, overstock, and lightly used inventory. This role is a key decision maker in the end-to-end exhaust journey, from the point merchandise is marked out of stock at Nordstrom or Rack through to its final recovery outcome. Nordstrom recovers this inventory through a combination of paths: direct sale through our Last Chance outlet stores, and liquidation when direct sale isn't the best outcome. This role is focused on prevention and recovery: working upstream with Merchandising and Store Operations to reduce how much inventory becomes exhaust in the first place, and then once it becomes exhaust, making sure it moves through the optimal recovery path as quickly as possible. This Senior Program Manager sits at the intersection of Inventory, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Transportation, Store Operations, Product, and Technology. You'll partner with each of these teams to understand their constraints and priorities, but this team owns the outcome: you're accountable for how well exhaust performs across the network, not just for coordinating the parts. This role's scope covers inventory that flows through Nordstrom's exhaust and recovery paths.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in program management, supply chain, retail operations, or a related field
Bachelor's degree
Prior experience or strong understanding of retail supply chain and store operations
Strong analytical skills, comfortable building and interpreting reporting/metrics from multiple data sources to drive decisions
Ability to develop and manage pricing or sell-through strategy in partnership with store or merchant teams
Proven ability to build trusted relationships and drive alignment across cross-functional teams without direct authority
Strong communication skills, able to translate complex, cross-functional issues clearly for audiences ranging from front-line store teams to senior leadership
Comfortable with ambiguity, able to identify gaps, build structure, and drive process where none exists yet
Ability to travel 2-3 times annually

Nice To Haves

MBA or relevant Master's degree a plus

Responsibilities

Partner upstream with Merchandising and Store Operations to identify and reduce root causes of exhaust before inventory ever reaches that stage
Own reporting and visibility into exhaust flow, including markdown volume to Last Chance, backlog across stores and DCs/FCs, mark-out-of-stock shipment tracking, and site-level productivity, partnering with data analysts to build and evolve the metrics that matter
Drive pricing and sell-through strategy in partnership with store leadership, balancing sell-through velocity against margin recovery
Manage inventory flow to Last Chance stores, balancing processing capacity and demand, avoiding both backlog and excess overstock selloff
Identify and stand-up alternative recovery paths, including liquidation and donation, when direct sale isn't the best outcome
Partner with Product and Technology to identify gaps and build requirements for more automated exhaust workflows
Drive compliance across Transportation, DCs/FCs, and Store Operations to ensure exhaust processes are followed consistently across the network
Support Store Operations by helping resolve customer escalations, and by documenting and updating store-level processes and tracking compliance to them
Hold accountability for store-level productivity and variable cost performance tied to exhaust processing
Help develop and execute the long-term exhaust roadmap and continuously identify opportunities to improve operational and recovery metrics
Escalate issues and options to senior leadership for timely, actionable decisions
Perform other related duties as assigned