Outlet Merchandising Director: Strategy, Growth & Impact

vineyard vines; Stamford (CT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount

401(k)

Commuter benefits

Paid family leave

Onsite gym

Summer Fridays

Job summary

vineyard vines is seeking a Director of Outlet Merchandising to lead the overall Outlet strategy, vision, and financial performance, with primary ownership of Men’s and strategic oversight of Women’s and Kids’. This leader will translate customer insights and market trends into differentiated, profitable assortments and a clear product architecture.

You will balance long‑term growth with near‑term needs, coach a high‑performing team, and partner with Planning, Design, Product Development,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of Merchandising experience required, Men’s, Women’s and Kid’s experience is ideal.
• 4+ years of managing high performing teams.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall merchandising strategy, vision, and financial performance for the Outlet business, with primary ownership of Men’s and strategic oversight of Women’s and Kids’.
• Establish a clear and differentiated Outlet merchandising strategy that balances brand integrity, customer needs, fashion, value, and profitability.
• Define and lead the long-term evolution of the Outlet merchandising model, challenging existing ways of working and identifying new opportunities across product, pricing, inventory, customer experience, and channel strategy.
• Approach the Outlet business with an entrepreneurial mindset, identifying opportunities to drive sales, improve productivity, strengthen the customer proposition, and unlock profitable growth.
• Lead a test-and-learn mindset across the business, developing and scaling new strategies that unlock incremental sales, improve productivity, and strengthen the Outlet customer proposition.
• Champion blue-sky opportunities and build cross-functional alignment around strategies that drive meaningful business impact.
• Analyze the business through both creative and financial lenses, balancing short- and long-term opportunities across Men’s, Women’s, and Kids’.
• Own and drive key financial metrics, including sales, margin, inventory, sell-through, productivity, and markdown performance; proactively identify risks and opportunities and establish action plans to address them.
• Leverage weekly sales and inventory reporting to identify trends, optimize assortments, mitigate risk, and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
• Develop seasonal merchandising strategies and materials, including scorecards, assortment overviews, presentation decks, assortment rankings, and store tiering strategies.
• Define and evolve the Outlet product architecture to ensure the assortment delivers the appropriate balance of fashion, core, good/better/best, opening price points, and key volume-driving categories.
• Ensure the Outlet assortment is differentiated from full-price channels while maintaining brand integrity and delivering a compelling value proposition to the customer.
• Develop a deep understanding of the Outlet customer and translate customer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, and business performance into relevant product and assortment strategies.
• Partner closely with Planning to develop and execute financial plans, inventory strategies, and assortment frameworks that support overall Outlet objectives.
• Serve as the senior cross-functional merchandising leader for the Outlet channel, creating alignment and driving accountability from concept through commercialization across Design, Planning, Product Development, Production, Sourcing, Marketing, Logistics, and other key partners.
• Ensure product assortment, pricing, quality, product lifecycle, and timing align with the overall Outlet strategy and customer expectations.
• Lead adherence to the seasonal development calendar across all Outlet departments, proactively managing milestones, priorities, risks, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Set the strategic vision and merchandising standards across Men’s, Women’s, and Kids’, empowering category leaders with clear ownership and accountability for their businesses.
• Serve as a key voice for Outlet at the senior leadership level, clearly communicating business performance, strategic opportunities, risks, and priorities while driving cross-functional accountability and execution.
• Manage, coach, and develop a high-performing team of merchants, creating opportunities for professional growth, increased ownership, leadership development, and succession planning.
• Foster a collaborative, entrepreneurial, and results-oriented culture that encourages innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with senior leadership to identify and execute strategies that drive profitable growth and elevate the overall Outlet business.

Skills

Merchandising

Leadership

Customer insights

Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Excel

CAD Design

Job description

vineyard vines is seeking a Director of Outlet Merchandising to lead the overall Outlet strategy, vision, and financial performance, with primary ownership of Men’s and strategic oversight of Women’s and Kids’. This leader will translate customer insights and market trends into differentiated, profitable assortments and a clear product architecture.

You will balance long‑term growth with near‑term needs, coach a high‑performing team, and partner with Planning, Design, Product Development,