Senior Merchant

THE COMPANY: BIRDY GREY

Birdy Grey is a direct-to-consumer brand whose mission is to celebrate and elevate friendships during one of the most important milestones in a person’s life: THE WEDDING. 

Founded in 2017 by best friends Grace Lee (CEO & Founder) and Monica Ashauer (President & Co-Founder), Birdy Grey offers affordable bridesmaid dresses starting at $100, and fun gifts and accessories for everyone in the bridal party. Brides and bridesmaids alike count on Birdy Grey for their most important day—so much so that we’ve dressed over half a million bridesmaids (and counting) in less than 5 years.

THE OPPORTUNITY: Senior Merchant

REPORTS TO: Sr. Director of Merchandising

LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA (Hybrid)

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with an office in New York, NY, Birdy Grey supports hybrid work for eligible roles. This role requires working out of our DTLA 2-3 days a week. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

We are seeking a Senior Merchant dress categories. This role, reporting into the Sr. Director of Merchandising will support the development & execution of the company product assortment. This individual will be responsible for executing the product strategy,  curating the assortment and helping to identify new growth opportunities. To be effective in this role, the individual must be an experienced merchant who is passionate about the bridal space, Birdy Grey’s mission, and embody the brand’s values. The ideal candidate has strong communication, organizational and analytical skills and the ability to foster relationships with vendors, cross-functional teams and peers to deliver results.

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITIES

• Create and manage merchandise assortment and inventory strategies that drive sales growth and maintain margin targets
• Build seasonal line plans partnering with the Design and Product Development teams
• Create the replenishment strategy partnering with Planning and PD, guiding long-range fabric & style expansion
• Own in-season management of the assortment including new category testing and markdowns
• Analyze category performance to identify risks and opportunities in weekly leadership meetings
• Participate in weekly fittings to inform style adoption and execution
• Manage relationship with wholesale vendors, including pricing and terms negotiations
• Partner with planning to build a pre-season sales and inventory plan as well as manage sales and inventory forecasting of OTB for all categories, updated monthly
• Partner with brand marketing  on promotions and launch timing strategy
• Partner with E-commerce team to manage new product launch process, make site merchandising recommendations and strategize on cross-selling opportunities
• Uphold brand price positioning and pricing strategy for non-dress categories
• Identify key trends in the marketplace and recommend assortment additions accordingly
• Partner with Planning to Identify potential short-stocked positions or stockouts and make recommendations to correct in order to avoid any sales misses
• Work closely with product development and production team on categories purchased via vertical suppliers; Identify opportunities to shift any wholesale items in-house to maximize profit
• Develop comprehensive assortment strategies across E-commerce channel, identifying new product opportunities to deliver high growth expectations
• Maintain an understanding of the competitive landscape and impart key insights into line development and build seasonal product knowledge for the website
• Act as cross-departmental liaison, creating a consistent flow of communication throughout the organization

THE RIGHT CANDIDATE: QUALIFICATIONS & PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

EDUCATION: College degree required 

EXPERIENCE / REQUIREMENTS:

• 8+  years in DTC e-commerce environment in retail buying, and/or merchandising capacity
• Strong experience with sales forecasting, assortment building, and inventory management
• Excellent Excel proficiency strongly preferred
• Strong knowledge of retail math and merchandising concepts, including the product development cycle and strategy of building and maintaining both fashion and core programs across different categories
• Experience with Looker or other similar data platforms preferred
• Ability to work independently with strong time management skills
• A proactive and collaborative approach; you love working with people and people love working with you
• Analytical mindset with a strong ability to compile, analyze, and report data
• Hard working and willing to roll sleeves up - no job is too big or too small
• You have an entrepreneurial spirit. You thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced, fluid environment. You are comfortable with ambiguity and take initiative.

NICE TO HAVES

• 2+ years as the lead Merchant for a retail start up
• Fashion and bridal e-commerce experience a plus
• Knowledge of planning