Sr. Associate Merchant

Office Depot•Boca Raton, FL

8h•$78,800 - $123,100

About The Position

The Sr. Associate Merchant leverages consumer insights, market trends, and new product development to build curated, customer-driven assortments and service solutions. This position partners closely with key stakeholders to understand division strategies and financial goals based on the strategic category plan to ensure that overall product development and direction delivers in-store, catalog, and online programs that are competitive and differentiated. The role involves working with suppliers to set up new items and maintain item integrity, content, and web attributes. It also requires partnering cross-functionally to ensure customer-centric solutions and improve product mix and shopping experience. The associate will optimize assortments and catalogs to maximize trade-up, solutions, micro-assortments, and identify gaps by customer vertical/segment. Maintaining cross-reference files, good/better/best assortments, and upsell/cross-sell strategies are key. This role offers the opportunity to fully manage and develop the strategy for a sub-category. This position requires a thought leader with an independent perspective who can build collaborative solutions with key stakeholders across the company, partnering with content, ecommerce, inventory management, private brand, and pricing and promotion teams. This role has decision-making authority within the scope of work and assigned categories. A comprehensive understanding of all current and future paths to purchase is necessary, including retail store format optimization, brick-and-mortar shopping experience, web dynamics, digital marketing impacts, mobile experience, contract B2B sales motion, pricing strategies, and vertical/customer segmentation. The role performs market research to gain in-depth knowledge of products, vendor capabilities, industry trends, and emerging innovation. It partners with Private Brand to optimize the portfolio for unique customer value through new development and supplier sourcing. The associate optimizes the product and services portfolio to drive consumer demand, market share, sales, and profitability, grounded in market and consumer understanding. They manage the assortment of products and services, determining the optimal product mix based on category goals, performance, and designated category roles. The role works with cross-functional partners to ensure exceptional execution of assortment strategies. The associate is responsible for identifying and initiating vendor setup and maintenance with Merchandising Operations, overseeing item integrity, including new item setup, content, and web attributes with support teams. They work with suppliers to develop new product assortments by vertical and segment, and ensure web and catalog execution.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree (B.A/B.S) in Business, Merchandising, Operations
5-7 + years experience (3+ years progressive merchandising plus other equivalent related experience)
Minimum three years merchandising experience required.
Strong leader with strategic business management skills, who can appropriately shift between tactical and strategic perspectives.
Results oriented, seek empowerment, inquisitive, comfortable with ambiguity and possess versatile communication styles.
Cross-functional strategic vision: a willingness to see business opportunities from the perspective of the whole company as opposed to solely the perspective of his/her functional area.
Comprehensive understanding of all current and future paths to purchase.
Knowledge of key drivers including: Retail store format optimization and brick & mortar shopping experience, Web dynamics, digital marketing impacts, and mobile experience, Contract B2B sales motion, pricing strategies and vertical / customer segmentation.

Nice To Haves

Finance, marketing, product development, procurement, services and operations background beneficial

Responsibilities

Leverages consumer insights, market trends, and new product development to build curated, customer-driven assortments and service solutions.
Partners closely with key stakeholders to understand division strategies and financial goals based on the strategic category plan.
Ensures overall product development and direction delivers competitive and differentiated in-store, catalog, and online programs.
Works with suppliers to set up new items and maintain item integrity, content, and web attributes.
Partners cross-functionally to ensure customer-centric solutions and improve product mix and shopping experience.
Optimizes assortments and catalogs to maximize trade up, solutions, micro-assortments, and identify gaps by customer vertical/segment.
Maintains cross-reference files, good/better/best assortments, and upsell/cross-sell strategies.
Fully manages and develops the strategy for a sub-category.
Brings an independent perspective while effectively building collaborative solutions with key stakeholders.
Partners with content, ecommerce, inventory management, private brand, and pricing and promotion teams.
Performs market research to gain an in-depth knowledge of products, vendor capabilities, industry trends, and emerging innovation.
Partners with Private Brand to optimize the portfolio to offer unique value to customers through new development and supplier sourcing opportunities.
Optimizes the product and services portfolio to drive consumer demand, market share, sales, and profitability.
Manages assortment of products and services, determining optimal product mix based on category goals, performance, and designated category roles.
Works with cross-functional partners to ensure exceptional execution of assortment strategies.
Identifies and initiates vendor setup and maintenance working with Merchandising Operations.
Oversees item integrity, including new item setup, content, and web attributes with support teams.
Works with suppliers to develop new product assortments by vertical and segment.
Ensures Web and catalog execution.