Vice President Merchandising

Cracker Barrel•Lebanon, TN

4d•Onsite

About The Position

At Cracker Barrel's Store Support Center, the work means more because it's done together, serving those who serve guests. This role is for a visionary, commercially driven Vice President of Merchandising to lead the strategic direction and performance of the $650M+ retail business across national and digital channels. It's an opportunity for an accomplished merchandising executive to shape category strategy, product innovation, sourcing, pricing, promotions, and organizational capability, defining the next chapter for a recognized American brand. The ideal candidate combines merchant instinct, financial acumen, product innovation, team development, and a passion for creating distinctive customer experiences.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive merchandising leadership experience.
Significant ownership of large-scale retail P&L performance.
Experience leading multi-category merchandise portfolios.
Expertise in merchandising strategy, category management, assortment architecture, pricing, promotions, sourcing, and product development.
Success developing proprietary, exclusive, or differentiated product assortments.
Demonstrated vendor negotiation and commercial leadership experience.
Proven ability to lead large organizations through leaders.
Strong executive presence and cross-functional influence.
Experience leveraging data, analytics, technology, and AI to improve merchandising performance and decision quality.

Nice To Haves

Experience within specialty retail, lifestyle retail, home, gift, apparel, general merchandise, omnichannel retail, or customer-centric branded environments is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Define and execute enterprise merchandising strategy across all merchandise categories.
Establish category portfolio priorities, assortment architecture, and investment frameworks.
Identify new growth opportunities through consumer insights, emerging trends, and changing guest needs.
Create differentiated merchandise experiences that strengthen brand distinction and customer loyalty.
Lead enterprise product development and sourcing strategy.
Build innovative product pipelines that create competitive advantage.
Guide major vendor negotiations and commercial partnerships.
Balance quality, speed-to-market, exclusivity, cost, innovation, and margin performance.
Ensure sourcing strategies support long-term growth and profitability.
Own merchandising performance within a $650M+ retail P&L.
Drive sales growth, margin expansion, inventory productivity, pricing effectiveness, and promotional performance.
Establish pricing architecture and markdown governance that support both brand integrity and financial performance.
Lead enterprise merchandising reviews and portfolio decision-making.
Lead through a team of Senior Directors, Directors, and merchandising leaders.
Build organizational capability, leadership depth, succession plans, and future talent pipelines.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Position the organization for future growth through modernization and capability building.
Partner closely with executive leaders across Retail, Operations, Finance, Planning, Supply Chain, Marketing, eCommerce, Technology, and Data & Analytics.
Influence enterprise strategy by connecting merchandising decisions to business performance and guest experience.
Serve as a key member of the Retail Leadership Team.