Remote Divisional Merchandise Manager, Ski & Snow Hardgoods

Bilinguallink; Newmarket; Remote; CAD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Executive access

AI-first skill building

Accelerated career path

Competitive benefits

Employee discounts

Job summary

Backcountry is seeking a Divisional Merchandise Manager for Ski & Snow Hardgoods to lead the end-to-end strategy across resort ski, backcountry, and snowboard categories. You will own the category vision, drive assortments, profitability, and customer experience in a highly seasonal business.

You will report to the VP, Merchandising Hardgoods and collaborate with Inventory Planning, Finance, Marketing, and Digital/UX teams to translate regional needs into winning strategies.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in ski and snowboard hardgoods with market insights.
• Ability to translate regional needs into winning assortment strategies.
• Experience managing highly seasonal businesses and lifecycle planning.
• Proven track record in building exclusive assortments and partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute multi-year strategy across ski, snowboard and backcountry hardgoods.
• Lead end-to-end category vision, assortment strategies and OTB alignment.
• Partner with Inventory Planning, Finance and Digital teams on performance targets.
• Develop and coach a high-performing merchandising team.

Skills

Ski & snowboard hardgoods

Vendor landscape knowledge

Inventory planning

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic category leadership

Data-driven decision making

Tools

Vendor dating programs

Job description

At Backcountry, our mission is to connect people to their passions. Our four online stores—Backcountry, Competitive Cyclist, MotoSport and, SteepandCheap—aim to supply our customers with the gear, knowledge, and inspiration necessary to get out there and chase down life’s greatest moments. We do this by providing the biggest and best assortment of premium outdoor products, superior shopping experience, personalized Gearhead expertise, lightning-fast and accurate fulfillment, and inspirational, informative, and community-centered content.

As Divisional Merchandise Manager, Ski & Snow Hardgoods, you will define and lead the strategy for one of Backcountry’s most critical and passion-driven categories. You’ll own the end-to-end category vision across resort ski, backcountry/touring, and snowboard, ensuring we deliver differentiated assortments, compelling customer experiences, and strong financial performance in a highly seasonal business. This role requires a leader who blends deep industry expertise, global market awareness, and sharp commercial instincts.

This position will report into the VP, Merchandising Hardgoods.

What you get to do every day:

Category Strategy & Market Leadership

• Define and execute a multi-year strategy across ski, snowboard, and backcountry hardgoods
• Leverage a strong understanding of the global vendor and brand landscape to identify opportunities and trends
• Translate regional customer needs (e.g., East vs. West mountains) into assortment strategies
• Drive top-line growth, gross margin, sell-through rate, and inventory productivity in partnership with Inventory Planning and Finance

Assortment & Lifecycle Management

• Build tiered assortments that serve multiple customer segments across price points and expertise levels
• Curate a balanced mix of full-price, off-price, and closeout product to maximize lifecycle value
• Lead end-of-season closeout buying strategies to optimize turns and minimize risk; understand the closeout buys have to be done at the end of the season to secure product that won’t be available once retailers have committed to the inventory. Partner with Inventory Planning and Finance to align on OTB and receipt timing and payment structure of the buys.
• Ensure assortments drive units per transaction (UPT) through thoughtful cross-category integration

Vendor Strategy & Differentiation

• Develop and deepen strategic partnerships with key ski and snow brands through on-site vendor meetings, frequent business reviews, product testing, and new product reviews.
• Lead business development initiatives with vendors to unlock exclusive opportunities
• Create SMUs and exclusive assortments that differentiate Backcountry from competitors
• Maintain a strong pulse on competitive positioning and brand strategies

Retail & Customer Experience

• Champion end-to-end customer journey across digital and retail touchpoints
• Partner with teams to build and scale demo fleet and seasonal rental programs
• Ensure seamless integration of hardgoods with accessories, travel gear, and related categories

Cross-Functional Partnerships

• Partner closely with Inventory Planning to align open-to-buy, manage receipt flow, and optimize in-season reorder and markdown decisions across a highly seasonal business
• Collaborate with Finance, Marketing, and Digital/UX teams to align category investments with financial targets, campaign timing, and on-site merchandising execution
• Leverage sell-through data, digital conversion metrics, and customer demand signals to inform assortment decisions, identify risk, and surface opportunities in real time

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing merchandising team
• Establish clear goals aligned to business outcomes and hold teams accountable
• Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and continuous improvement

What you bring to the role:

• Deep expertise in ski and snowboard hardgoods, with a strong point of view on product and trends
• Strong understanding of the global snow market, vendor landscape, and brand ecosystem
• Proven ability to translate regional nuances (East vs. West, Resort vs. Backcountry) into winning strategies
• Extensive experience managing highly seasonal businesses, including lifecycle and inventory planning
• Demonstrated success building assortments across multiple price tiers and customer expertise levels
• Experience across full-price, off-price, and closeout channels, with a focus on end-of-season optimization
• Background in retail service models, including demo fleets and rental strategies
• Experience developing SMUs, exclusives, and differentiated assortment programs
• Strong track record of building strategic brand partnerships and vendor relationships
• Understanding of adjacent categories including snow accessories, travel, and gear ecosystems
• Proven ability to influence the full customer journey and drive metrics like UPT and conversion
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with Inventory Planning, Finance, and Digital teams to align assortment decisions with OTB, margin targets, and digital performance
• Deep familiarity with ski industry vendor dating programs and off-price buying windows; understands that end-of-season closeout commitments are time-sensitive and cannot be recaptured once the window closes
• Analytical fluency with sell-through analysis, conversion metrics, and demand forecasting to drive confident, data-informed buy decisions

What’s in it for you? Joining Backcountry isn’t just about having a seat at the table—it’s about helping redesign the table entirely. You’ll be challenged, stretched, and supported as you grow faster than you thought possible. In addition to competitive compensation, we offer:

• Executive Access:Work directly with brand CEOs and senior leadership, solvingreal businessproblems and earning mentorship from top operators.

• AI-First Skill Building:Get hands-on with the most advanced AI tools in the market. From automation to prompt engineering,you’llbuild a modern tech stack that sets you apart in any industry.

• Accelerated Career Path:High performers are quickly entrusted with greater responsibility, new challenges, and leadership opportunities across our portfolio of brands.

• Competitive benefits:Paid time off policies, 401(k)/RRSP match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employeediscounts at our portfolio companies

Our interview process:

• Step 1: If you align with our vision and meet the qualifications,we’llreach out to schedule a conversation and introduceBackcountry.

• Step 2: You’llcomplete a short AI or product-building challenge so we can understand how you approach problems and execution.

• Step 3: Participatein deep-dive interviews withBackcountryleadership focused on your experience, product mindset, and operational thinking.

• Step 4: Offer.We’llmove fast for the right candidate.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These toolsassistour recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions areultimately madeby humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

The CSC family of brands provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, state or local laws.

The CSC family of brands is committed to providing reasonableaccommodationsfor qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance oran accommodationdue to a disability, please contact [email protected].

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.