SUMMARY

As the Sr. Merchandise Manager, you will lead a team charged with maintaining a relevant product mix in our stores, recommending new product lines to grow sales, recommending items/categories for promotion and maintaining proper stock levels to maximize the bottom line profit.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following.

Embrace a strong team approach and be completely approachable by store and corporate team members, Ace staff, vendors and the public.  Work to ensure a cohesive and effective work relationship in the Merchandising Department.

Train, mentor, coach and counsel assigned team on a regular basis.  Recruit, select, train, mentor and lead new merchandising team members as needed. 

Regularly visit competition in search of the next “Game Changer” for Great Lakes Ace.

Work with stores to ensure relevant merchandising selection, identify niches, and leverage opportunities. Needs to be highly focused on keeping the product mix current, relevant, and interesting.  This involves regular travel to Great Lakes Ace stores.

Oversite of line reviews, Ace and vendor category reviews, product changes, installations and implementations as well as management of new items, discontinued items, and sku conversions.

Oversite of TPC and Closeout Management to minimize overstocks or slow moving inventory in stores while balancing with margin protection.

Work closely with the stores, the Merchandise Managers, and the inventory management team to maximize in-stock on basic, seasonal, and promotional inventory while maintaining desired inventory turns.

Merchandising/Marketing must be closely linked to maximize promotions.  Oversees the suggestion of ad items and their placement in ads based on sales data and ad performance analysis.  Also oversees the Merchandising/Marketing partnership in co-op negotiation, vendor promotional participation and execution of promotions within Epicor.

Focus on margin maintenance and growth through retail pricing management and strategy, as well as lowering procurement costs.

Oversight of Seasonal/Holiday planning.  These are significant categories for Great Lakes Ace and an extremely important area of focus.

https://acehardware.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/GLA_External/job/Corp-18375---Farmington-Hills-MI/Senior-Merchandising-Manager--Farmington-Hills--MI-_REQ-19519-1
Oversee the development of endcaps / sidecaps / clip strips / impulse and promotional displays.  Analyze the performance of every display for continuous improvement.

Lead the merchandising team through Ace show preparation and show buying.

Maintain professional development including attendance and active participation in Ace peer mentoring, courses, seminars, trade shows, etc.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES

Other duties may be assigned as needed

RELATIONSHIPS

Ability to work cross functionally with all areas of the company – Stores, Executives, Merchandising, Accounting, Human Resources, Information Technology, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a four-year college and five years of related experience.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read and interpret documents such as purchase orders, invoices, statements, and procedures. Ability to write routine, effective correspondence to vendors, merchandising group, stores, and auditors, etc.

ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, proportions, and percentages using electronic tools available. 

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply commonsense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Advanced computer skills necessary, must be proficient in Microsoft Office, Excel and Word.  Be able to create Excel spreadsheets. Requires significant attention to detail and organizational skills, along with the ability to prioritize, problem solve, multi task, have excellent communication skills and view their routine tasks analytically.  Advanced knowledge of key product lines and departments as well as a complete understanding of replenishment systems, and supply chain.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee frequently is required to talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.