Intimates & Swim Merchandising Lead - Data-Driven Growth

EMERGING BLUE; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Emerging Blue in San Francisco seeks an experienced Merchandising Manager for Women’s Intimates & Swim to lead assortment strategy and category growth, driving revenue and margins. You will own the product offering and work across teams to optimize quality, fit, and value for customers.

The role requires 5–10 years of retail merchandising experience, preferably in luxury and with e‑commerce/DTC exposure, and a Bachelor’s degree.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 5–10 years of retail merchandising experience within the Women’s Intimates category; luxury merchandising experience strongly preferred.
• E‑commerce and/or direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) merchandising experience preferred.
• Proven track record of increasing responsibility and career progression within merchandising organizations.
• Strong analytical skills with experience leveraging data, reporting tools, customer insights, and external market research to inform merchandising decisions.
• Deep understanding of assortment planning, category management, product development, and merchandising strategy.
• Strong merchant instincts with the ability to anticipate customer needs while balancing both the analytical and creative aspects of retail merchandising.
• Highly organized, detail‑oriented, and execution‑focused with exceptional problem‑solving and project management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to improve processes, drive operational excellence, and enhance overall brand performance.
• Continuous learner with a high degree of curiosity, adaptability, and openness to new ideas and perspectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and cross‑functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment while remaining flexible and willing to contribute across multiple functions.
• Passion for product, customer experience, and building high‑growth consumer brands.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the Women’s Intimates & Swim assortment strategy, continuously refining and expanding the product offering to deliver exceptional quality, value, and customer satisfaction.
• Identify and execute category expansion opportunities that position the business for long‑term, sustainable growth.
• Analyze product performance, customer feedback, ratings, return rates, market trends, and financial metrics to make data‑driven assortment decisions.
• Develop, optimize, and scale product assortments to achieve category objectives related to sales, margins, customer satisfaction, and overall business performance.
• Partner closely with Product Development, Sourcing, and Technical Design teams to develop new products and continuously improve existing products through quality, fit, construction, and material enhancements.
• Collaborate with Planning, Site Merchandising, and Marketing teams to support successful product launches, seasonal initiatives, and category growth strategies.
• Serve as the category expert and customer advocate by maintaining an unwavering focus on every aspect of the product experience, including quality, pricing, fit, and value.
• Balance analytical insights with merchant intuition to anticipate customer needs and identify emerging market opportunities.
• Monitor category performance and proactively recommend strategies to improve customer ratings, reduce return rates, increase profitability, and drive long‑term growth.
• Communicate effectively across merchandising, sourcing, product development, planning, marketing, and leadership teams to ensure alignment and successful execution.

Skills

Analytical skills

Cross-functional leadership

Merchandising strategy

Data-driven decisions

Category management

Product development collaboration

Organization & execution

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

About The Role

Our client, a fast-growing San Francisco-based e-commerce company known for redefining value in premium apparel, fine jewelry, and home furnishings, is seeking an experienced Merchandising Manager to lead and grow its Women's Intimates & Swim category. The Merchandising Manager, Intimates & Swim role is responsible for expanding and optimizing the assortment while delivering exceptional quality, value, and customer satisfaction.

Job Description

Merchandising Manager, Intimates & Swim

About The Role

Our client, a fast-growing San Francisco-based e-commerce company known for redefining value in premium apparel, fine jewelry, and home furnishings, is seeking an experienced Merchandising Manager to lead and grow its Women's Intimates & Swim category. The Merchandising Manager, Intimates & Swim role is responsible for expanding and optimizing the assortment while delivering exceptional quality, value, and customer satisfaction.

Our client believes that everyone deserves access to high quality products at radically affordable prices. They believe the marketplace for consumer products is inundated with too many options, and customers find product quality difficult to determine, while customers frequently pay more for products that can be delivered at significantly lower prices. Their goal is to identify the highest quality products in the marketplace and connect the makers of these goods directly to the customers who want them.

This merchant leading the Women's Intimates & Swim category will be responsible for driving assortment strategy, category growth, revenue, margins, and overall business performance. The ideal candidate combines strong merchant instincts with analytical rigor and cross-functional leadership to build and scale one of the company's fastest-growing product categories.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the Women's Intimates & Swim assortment strategy, continuously refining and expanding the product offering to deliver exceptional quality, value, and customer satisfaction.
• Identify and execute category expansion opportunities that position the Women's Intimates & Swim business for long-term, sustainable growth.
• Analyze product performance, customer feedback, ratings, return rates, market trends, and financial metrics to make data-driven assortment decisions.
• Develop, optimize, and scale product assortments to achieve category objectives related to sales, margins, customer satisfaction, and overall business performance.
• Partner closely with Product Development, Sourcing, and Technical Design teams to develop new products and continuously improve existing products through quality, fit, construction, and material enhancements.
• Collaborate with Planning, Site Merchandising, and Marketing teams to support successful product launches, seasonal initiatives, and category growth strategies.
• Serve as the category expert and customer advocate by maintaining an unwavering focus on every aspect of the product experience, including quality, pricing, fit, and value.
• Balance analytical insights with merchant intuition to anticipate customer needs and identify emerging market opportunities.
• Monitor category performance and proactively recommend strategies to improve customer ratings, reduce return rates, increase profitability, and drive long-term growth.
• Communicate effectively across merchandising, sourcing, product development, planning, marketing, and leadership teams to ensure alignment and successful execution.
  
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• 5–10 years of retail merchandising experience within the Women's Intimates category; luxury merchandising experience strongly preferred.
• E-commerce and/or direct-to-consumer (DTC) merchandising experience preferred.
• Proven track record of increasing responsibility and career progression within merchandising organizations.
• Strong analytical skills with experience leveraging data, reporting tools, customer insights, and external market research to inform merchandising decisions.
• Deep understanding of assortment planning, category management, product development, and merchandising strategy.
• Strong merchant instincts with the ability to anticipate customer needs while balancing both the analytical and creative aspects of retail merchandising.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and execution-focused with exceptional problem-solving and project management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to improve processes, drive operational excellence, and enhance overall brand performance.
• Continuous learner with a high degree of curiosity, adaptability, and openness to new ideas and perspectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment while remaining flexible and willing to contribute across multiple functions.
• Passion for product, customer experience, and building high-growth consumer brands.
  
  

Additional Information

• This role is based in San Francisco, California, with a requirement to work in-office three days per week.
  
  

Compensation

130-150k