Merchandising Manager, Women's Footwear

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

Job summary

EMERGING BLUE in San Francisco is seeking an experienced Merchandising Manager to lead and grow the Women’s Footwear category. You will own end-to-end merchandising, drive assortment strategy, revenue, margins, and expand sourcing partnerships to scale a key product line.

The role requires strong analytical rigor, cross‑functional leadership, and a track record of delivering data‑driven decisions in a fast‑paced, consumer brand environment. Office presence three days per week is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 5–7 years of retail merchandising experience within the Women’s Footwear category; luxury merchandising experience strongly preferred.
• 1–2 years of people management experience.
• 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, vendor management, 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 end‑to‑end merchandising strategy for the Women’s Footwear category, including assortment planning, product launches, category performance, and long‑term growth.
• Develop, optimize, and scale product assortments to achieve category objectives related to revenue, margins, inventory health, and customer satisfaction.
• Influence long‑term category strategy while independently driving near‑term business results and execution.
• Analyze product performance, customer feedback, ratings, reviews, return rates, market trends, and financial metrics to make data‑driven assortment decisions.
• Identify whitespace opportunities, emerging trends, and competitive insights to continuously refine the category roadmap and expansion strategy.
• Partner closely with Product Development and Sourcing teams to align product quality, cost, vendor performance, and successful product execution.
• Evaluate existing assortments and implement product quality improvements based on customer feedback, ratings, reviews, and return data.
• Identify, onboard, and develop relationships with best‑in‑class vendor partners to expand sourcing capabilities and support category growth.
• Serve as the category expert and customer advocate by balancing analytical insights with merchant intuition to anticipate customer needs and deliver exceptional products.
• May manage and develop Merchandising Analysts or Assistant Merchants while providing guidance and support across the category.

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 Footwear category. The role is responsible for expanding and managing the Women’s Footwear 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 frequently paying 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.

Having built a loyal and growing customer base, the company is continuing to expand both existing and emerging product categories. The merchandiser for the Women’s Footwear category will be responsible for driving assortment strategy, revenue, margins, and the overall growth trajectory of the business. The ideal candidate combines strong merchant instincts with analytical rigor and cross‑functional leadership to build and scale one of the company’s key product categories.

Job Description

Merchandising Manager, Women’s Footwear

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the end‑to‑end merchandising strategy for the Women’s Footwear category, including assortment planning, product launches, category performance, and long‑term growth.
• Develop, optimize, and scale product assortments to achieve category objectives related to revenue, margins, inventory health, and customer satisfaction.
• Influence long‑term category strategy while independently driving near‑term business results and execution.
• Analyze product performance, customer feedback, ratings, reviews, return rates, market trends, and financial metrics to make data‑driven assortment decisions.
• Identify whitespace opportunities, emerging trends, and competitive insights to continuously refine the category roadmap and expansion strategy.
• Partner closely with Product Development and Sourcing teams to align product quality, cost, vendor performance, and successful product execution.
• Evaluate existing assortments and implement product quality improvements based on customer feedback, ratings, reviews, and return data.
• Identify, onboard, and develop relationships with best‑in‑class vendor partners to expand sourcing capabilities and support category growth.
• Serve as the category expert and customer advocate by balancing analytical insights with merchant intuition to anticipate customer needs and deliver exceptional products.
• May manage and develop Merchandising Analysts or Assistant Merchants while providing guidance and support across the category.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 5–7 years of retail merchandising experience within the Women’s Footwear category; luxury merchandising experience strongly preferred.
• 1–2 years of people management experience.
• 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, vendor management, 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