VP Merchandising, Collision & Mechanical Part

CarParts.com•Long Beach, CA

50d•Onsite

About The Position

CarParts.com is seeking a VP of Merchandising to own assortment and vendor/buying strategy for Collision Parts (70% of revenue, ~80,000 SKUs) and Mechanical Parts (sourced through a partner). This senior operating role reports to the COO and requires deep data analysis of fitment coverage, sell-through, velocity, and vendor lead times. For Collision, the focus is on precise SKU-level operations and long-tail assortment strategy. For Mechanical, the role involves category strategy, commercial targets, assortment scope approval, and partner governance, with oversight rather than hands-on SKU management. The VP will build and lead a team for Collision's assortment, vendor management, and SKU lifecycle, while maintaining a smaller function for Mechanical category governance. This role is crucial for explaining performance in both categories and informing demand planning, inventory, and pricing teams, though it does not own those functions directly.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive merchandising, category management, or buying leadership experience, with direct responsibility for large, complex, hardlines assortments of 40,000+ SKUs.
Automotive aftermarket, collision/body parts, or hard-parts experience highly preferred, but not required — strong hardlines/long-tail merchandising fundamentals matter more than industry pedigree.
Demonstrated experience managing long-tail catalogs — deep fitment/part-number complexity, low-velocity/high-SKU-count assortments — not just top-seller merchandising.
Proven track record building and executing assortment strategy: deciding what to carry, what to cut, and when, with clear commercial reasoning.
Strong vendor negotiation and management background.
Experience governing a category or vendor relationship through a third-party, drop-ship, VMI, or fully-funded partner model — comfortable holding a partner accountable to targets without owning day-to-day execution.
Experience factoring seasonality into assortment and buying decisions, and translating it into direction for demand planning partners.
Comfortable and effective operating at the SKU level — genuinely enjoys digging into granular sales, margin, and inventory data to find the "why" behind performance, and expects the same of their team.
Experience analyzing and acting on channel-level performance differences (e.g., direct site, marketplaces, wholesale/B2B).
P&L ownership experience for a business unit or category of meaningful scale.
Advanced proficiency with data and analytics tools (Excel/Tableau/SQL or similar) sufficient to interrogate SKU-level data directly, not solely through analysts.
A detail-obsessed operator who is energized — not drained — by getting into the weeds of an 80,000-SKU catalog; treats deep SKU-level command of the assortment as a core competency of the role.
Equally comfortable operating at two different altitudes: hands-on SKU depth for Collision, and strategic partner governance for Mechanical — without defaulting to one style for both.
Strong analytical and strategic thinking, with the ability to move fluidly between SKU-level detail and category-level strategy in the same conversation.
A clear, structured communicator who can explain complex assortment and performance dynamics simply to the COO, the executive team, and the board.
A builder — comfortable creating new processes, reporting, and team structure where none exists today.
High ownership and urgency; treats both categories' performance as personal accountability given Collision's weight in the business and Mechanical's strategic importance.
Collaborative cross-functional operator who can align Finance, Demand Planning/Inventory, Pricing, Data Science, Marketing, the Catalog team, Sourcing, and the CEO's Technical Advisor around a shared assortment and buying strategy.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end assortment strategy for the ~80,000-SKU Collision Parts catalog: what we carry, why we carry it, and when we bring it in or take it out.
Define assortment logic by part type, vehicle coverage (make/model/year), and price tier, balancing fitment breadth against inventory efficiency and return risk.
Build and maintain the long-tail strategy: know which low-velocity, high-coverage SKUs are strategically necessary versus which are dead weight.
Own seasonality planning across the category — anticipate weather-driven and regionally-driven demand swings and translate that into buying and inventory decisions.
Continuously evaluate what we don't carry and why — competitive gaps, new part numbers, new vendors, new categories — and bring a point of view on where the assortment should expand or contract.
Own the buying decision of what to source, from which vendor, and when to bring it into the assortment — the commercial "what and why" behind every SKU.
Set and defend the buying rationale SKU-by-SKU where it matters.
Own vendor relationships and negotiations (cost, terms, quality, vendor-funded programs) in partnership with sourcing/procurement.
Partner hand-in-hand with Demand Planning/Inventory on purchase quantities, timing, and replenishment cadence, and with Pricing on price-point strategy.
Operate at the SKU level, not just the category level. Know, or be able to find quickly, what is selling, what isn't, and why, across an 80,000-SKU catalog.
Build and personally use reporting and processes that surface velocity, sell-through, margin, and return rate at the individual SKU level.
Identify and diagnose channel-level performance differences and adjust assortment, pricing, or placement accordingly.
Proactively flag and act on what's accelerating and what's decelerating within the category, and be able to articulate why.
Drive SKU lifecycle management end to end — introduction, growth, maturity, decline, and rationalization/exit.
Use SKU-level fluency to inform pricing, promotional, and marketing decisions in partnership with those teams.
Set category-level assortment strategy, commercial targets (revenue, margin, availability), and priorities for Mechanical Parts, translating them into direction for our strategic partner to execute against.
Approve additions, exits, and assortment scope changes within the Mechanical catalog.
Ensure Mechanical assortment strategy stays aligned with overall company category strategy, brand standards under the JC Whitney label, and competitive positioning.
Co-own governance of the Mechanical business with the VP of Sourcing: participate in the SKU-level scorecard and quarterly business reviews.
Serve as an escalation point, alongside Sourcing, when Mechanical category performance falls short of target.
Maintain a dedicated point of ownership (a category manager or analyst) for Mechanical category oversight.
Represent Mechanical Parts performance in the same reporting cadence as Collision.
Report on Mechanical category health — growth, margin, availability, and any partner performance issues.
Own the Collision Parts category P&L, budget, and forecast — top-line growth, margin, and inventory health.
Own the Mechanical Parts category P&L outcomes — top-line growth and margin.
Lead a regular performance management cadence with the team and cross-functional partners, calling out gaps to plan and the specific actions to close them, across both categories.
Report category performance to the COO and executive team with a clear, data-driven point of view.
Build, lead, and scale a merchandising team (buyers, category managers, assortment/data analysts) capable of operating with SKU-level rigor across the 80,000-SKU Collision catalog.
Maintain a smaller, dedicated Mechanical category governance function — sized for partner oversight rather than direct SKU management.
Set the standard for analytical discipline on the team — instill the habit of asking "what's selling, what isn't, and why" as a daily practice.
Recruit, coach, and develop category management talent; be a hands-on player-coach willing to go SKU-deep alongside the team when needed.
Partner closely with the COO, Finance, Marketing, and E-commerce/Marketplace teams to align assortment and buying decisions with broader operating goals.
Work hand-in-hand, daily, with Demand Planning/Inventory and Pricing.
Partner closely with the VP of Sourcing (and the Sourcing organization) on the strategic partner relationship for Mechanical Parts.
Partner closely with Data Science to build and refine the SKU-level performance, velocity, and channel-performance models.
Partner with the CEO's Technical Advisor and the Catalog team on fitment data quality, part-number/catalog structure, and the technical foundation that underpins assortment and SKU-level decision-making.
Represent Collision and Mechanical Parts in company-wide strategic planning, budgeting, and executive reviews.
Serve as a key advisor to the COO and executive team on the health and direction of both categories.