Vice President, Retail & D2C

Varsity Spirit•Memphis, TN

43d•Hybrid

About The Position

VARSITY SPIRIT, A VARSITY BRANDS COMPANY - THE DRIVING FORCE IN SPIRIT ACROSS CHEER, DANCE, BAND AND YEARBOOK For over 50 years, Varsity Spirit has been the leading global source for all things spirit, including cheerleading, dance team, performing arts and yearbook. Focused on safety, entertainment and traditional school leadership, Varsity Spirit’s 5,000+ employees are dedicated to celebrating school spirit. A leader in apparel innovation, educational camps, clinics, competitions, and yearbook, Varsity Spirit impacts more than a million athletes each year. OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFETY At Varsity Spirit, the safety and wellbeing of the young people we serve is of the utmost importance. Since our inception 50 years ago, we have been – and remain – steadfastly committed to doing our part to create a safe and positive environment for our participants’ physical, emotional, and social development, and promoting an environment free from abuse and misconduct. Varsity has a zero tolerance for abuse in its programs, events, and associated business activities. Varsity is committed to reporting all suspicions, allegations, and incidents of abuse in full accordance with local laws and reporting requirements. Learn more at Our Commitment to Safety - Varsity.com . LOCATION: Memphis, TN. WORK TYPE: This role is expected to be onsite Varsity Spirit HQ 4 days per week, Fridays are remote. TRAVEL & LOCATION EXPECTATIONS: (<20%); During peak season December-March out-of-the-area and overnight travel required for specific event-based retail opportunities. HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT Varsity Spirit is looking to recruit a Vice President, Retail & D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) to lead all existing retail and direct-to-consumer operations and spearhead Varsity Spirit’s strategic growth in this area. The Vice President, Retail & D2C will report directly to Varsity Spirit’s Head of Retail/D2C & Chief Marketing Officer and will collaborate closely with other senior executives across the Varsity Brands enterprise. In addition, the role will sit on the Varsity Brands Leadership Council (VBLC). The Vice President, Retail & D2C will lead extensive event-based retail operations across the portfolio of Varsity Spirit’s ~400 competitions and ~6,000 summer camps, as well as all direct-to-consumer ecommerce initiatives (an overall strategic growth priority for the company). The role will partner with Varsity Spirit executive team members to assess existing operations, identify CX improvement and sales growth opportunities, and execute targeted implementation plans. We are looking for an individual with extensive retail and ecommerce experience who is enthusiastic about impact and value creation, and someone who brings insatiable curiosity to learn quickly and collaboratively influence teams and organizations to drive improvement across retail & D2C channels.

Requirements

Ability to make decisions utilizing a data-driven approach, with a strong understanding of retail / D2C KPIs to drive engagement and customer loyalty
Strong retail operations expertise, including experience leading inventory management and pricing functions, as well as teams focused on store operations
Experience working with retail inventory management systems and a variety of ecommerce tools (e.g. Shopify, Commerce Tools)
A direct orientation to problem solving and a bias to taking concrete actions
Deep curiosity and humility that can lead to quickly learning the nuances of the Varsity Spirit business
Exceptional interpersonal and collaboration skills for relationship building at all levels of the organization, including cross-departmental colleagues and leadership at Varsity Spirit and Varsity Brands
At least 15 years’ experience within retail / retail sales & store operations, ecommerce, merchandising, event-based / “pop-up” retail, and/or a direct-to-consumer retail sales function
Ecommerce management experience required; deep understanding of D2C / ecommerce, with skills across merchandising, creative, UI/UX, marketing/advertising, and sales
Bachelor’s degree

Nice To Haves

Experience in live events / sports / media & entertainment preferred, but not required
No prior experience in cheerleading, dance, or performing arts required
an MBA degree is preferred, but not required

Responsibilities

Owned & Operated Event-Based Retail: Lead Varsity Spirit’s in-house retail distribution and operations team (“Varsity Spirit Shop”) that activates across our extensive event footprint. Team members currently operate on-site retail stores at Varsity Spirit’s large “national” and “regional” camps and competitions, managing all on-site operations. Responsibilities including overseeing individuals responsible for Spirit Shop product creation and design, sourcing and procurement, inventory management, pricing, distribution from central warehouse operations to event sites, on-site operations and ‘day-of-event’ staffing and CX, marketing support, and overall program management.
B2B2C and B2C Ecommerce: Expand Varsity Spirit’s ecommerce business by harnessing the passion of the Varsity Spirit ecosystem, offering products that resonate with our core customers in new and unique areas. The role will utilize best-in-class ecommerce commercially available technology to directly engage customers using our extensive ecosystem and rich data sets (B2C), as well as utilize Varsity Brands extensive in-house capabilities for customized school / gym products offered through team sales channels (B2B2C). Overall, the leader must partner with Varsity Spirit leadership to create an appropriate omnichannel strategy to drive ecommerce sales before, during, and after event-based retail opportunities, whether in partnership with event-based retail or utilizing events to drive ecommerce sales.
External Partner Event-Based Retail: The role will also oversee and manage outsourced event retail operations with Varsity Spirit’s current and potential future partners. The individual will be responsible for leading the relationship with existing/future third parties to ensure mutual success and work collaboratively to grow Varsity Spirit product sales through partner sales channels. This will also include an ongoing strategic assessment of which event operations should be owned/operated vs. outsourced to an external partner, as well as deep collaboration with Varsity Spirit’s Corporate Partnerships team (also within the CTO’s organization).
In addition to leadership of Varsity’s Retail and D2C Channels, the Head of Retail & D2C will also be responsible for oversight of all relevant products across both traditional cheer, dance, and band categories, as well as emerging categories (e.g., lifestyle, activewear). Candidates should have experience across leading a holistic D2C business, including merchandising and product selection, pricing, promotion strategies, and more.
D2C Brand Expertise and Merchandizing / Product Strategy : Lead efforts to source (design or buy) new products and create a revamped merchandising strategy, offering products that directly appeal to Varsity Spirit’s consumers. Lead design, sourcing, sampling, procurement, and pricing efforts in collaboration with existing apparel functions / expertise.
Event-Based / “Pop-up” Retail Operations : Leadership of existing teams and future growth for all operations of Varsity Spirit’s on-site retail functions. Focus on growing ‘same store sales’ at existing event footprint and maximizing per capita sales through innovative products, an enhanced customer experience, and loyalty.
Ecommerce Strategy & Operations : Drive overall ecommerce strategy and operations. Significantly expand Varsity Spirit’s ecommerce sales by upgrading the online shop’s UI/UX, improving its product selection, and enhancing the overall consumer experience.
Omnichannel Management : Cultivate a self-reinforcing omnichannel Retail & D2C ecosystem that works in harmony across Varsity Spirit’s extensive competition and camp portfolio and existing team apparel sales function. Utilize natural touchpoints with customers (athletes and spectators) at Varsity Spirit events to drive both event-based and ecommerce-driven sales.
Executive Influencing : Serve as a senior partner to the Chief Transformation Officer and other business leaders to champion retail & direct-to-consumer initiatives across the entire Varsity Spirit portfolio, leveraging our significant set of customer touchpoints via camps and competitions. This role will need the ability to build deep relationships, earn trust, and work collaboratively to implement initiatives with event-based operational partners.