Senior Merchandising Manager — Growth & Leadership

Barnes & Noble Education; Florham Park (NJ); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Hybrid role attendance at Florham Park

Job summary

Barnes & Noble Education in Florham Park, NJ, is seeking a Sr. Merchandise Manager to lead assigned merchandise categories and drive growth across retail channels.

This hybrid role oversees category strategy, financial planning, assortment development, pricing, promotions, and vendor partnerships, leading Buyers and Assistant Buyers to deliver customer-centric assortments. This role requires 8–10 years of experience and a strong financial acumen.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Merchandising, Retail Management, Marketing, Finance, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall business strategy and financial performance for assigned merchandise categories, ensuring the achievement of sales, gross margin, markdown, inventory productivity, and profitability objectives.
• Develop and execute merchandise strategies, seasonal assortments, pricing, promotional, and go-to-market plans that align with customer needs, market trends, and company priorities.
• Lead the development of assortments across channels, store formats, geographic regions, customer segments, and price tiers to maximize customer engagement and business performance.
• Analyze customer insights, sales trends, competitive activity, and market intelligence to identify opportunities, anticipate demand, and make informed merchandising decisions.
• Partner with Merchandise Planning to develop seasonal financial plans, forecasts, inventory strategies, and in-season action plans that optimize sales, margin, inventory productivity, and inventory turnover.
• Drive disciplined inventory management through effective assortment planning, pricing strategies, promotional activity, markdown optimization, and exit strategies.
• Monitor business performance and proactively adjust merchandising strategies to capitalize on opportunities, mitigate risk, and achieve financial objectives.
• Develop and maintain strategic vendor partnerships, sourcing innovative products while negotiating commercial agreements that maximize value and support long-term business growth.
• Ensure vendor accountability through effective performance management, compliance, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Lead key merchandising milestones, including hindsight reviews, assortment presentations, line reviews, seasonal product launches, and marketing collaboration meetings.
• Partner with Marketing, Digital Commerce, Store Operations, Finance, Pricing, Inventory Management, and other cross-functional teams to ensure successful execution of merchandising strategies and promotional initiatives.
• Collaborate with store leadership to support new products, seasonal programs, special events, and localized merchandising opportunities that enhance the customer experience.
• Champion continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance merchandising processes, operational efficiency, communication, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Lead the resolution of operational challenges impacting merchandise execution, product availability, pricing, marketing initiatives, digital channels, and store performance.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of Buyers and Assistant Buyers by establishing clear expectations, providing ongoing feedback, and fostering professional growth.
• Build organizational capability through succession planning, talent development, knowledge sharing, and a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Influence cross-functional decision-making through strong business partnerships, sound judgment, and effective communication while presenting recommendations, business insights, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership.
• Stay current on retail, consumer, and industry trends, leveraging emerging technologies and best practices to drive innovation and strengthen merchandising performance
• Additional responsibilities as required.

Skills

Leadership

Merchandising strategy

Financial analysis

Vendor negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business

Tools

Microsoft Office

Retail systems

AI-enabled tools

Job description

Barnes & Noble Education in Florham Park, NJ, is seeking a Sr. Merchandise Manager to lead assigned merchandise categories and drive growth across retail channels.

This hybrid role oversees category strategy, financial planning, assortment development, pricing, promotions, and vendor partnerships, leading Buyers and Assistant Buyers to deliver customer-centric assortments. This role requires 8–10 years of experience and a strong financial acumen.