Head of Merchandising

At GameStop, we are committed to providing exceptional service and delivering the latest and greatest in gaming products to our customers. As a leading global retailer of video games, electronics, and gaming merchandise, we take pride in offering a wide range of products that cater to the needs and desires of gamers worldwide. Our mission is to create unforgettable experiences for our customers by constantly pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Whether you're a hardcore gamer or just starting out, we've got something for everyone. Join us in our mission to shape the future of gaming and bring the best gaming products to the world

The Head of Merchandising at GameStop, is responsible for the overall strategy and execution of product assortment, promotion, pricing, and placement in-store across all categories to maximize sales and profit. You will provide leadership by empowering direct reports with ownership over their categories and meeting the target metrics of sales, COGS, margins, inventory productivity, market share, Private Label penetration, and overall profitability. You are a hands-on leader that cultivates a culture of collaboration across the organization to optimize work processes that improve quality, customer satisfaction, sales, and profitability. As the Head of Merchandising, you are motivated by challenges and establishing goals that achieve business growth.

What will I do?

• Manage Category Lead development and execution of category strategy, including product selection, approval of marketing materials, and execution of pricing strategies in support of sales and profit
• Analyze promotional strategy and leverage product/consumer trends and historical data across all categories, to effectively support business strategies
• Achieve sales, share, profit and Private Label penetration targets, while appropriately balancing customer loyalty, innovation and blended margin
• Oversee Director of Private Label in development of innovation and merchandising strategy
• Develop plans to maximize sales and traffic during holidays and other relevant promotional periods
• Demonstrate understanding of the customer perspective through business decisions that drive loyalty in varying customer segments
• Draw insight from internal and external resources to generate new ideas and opportunities for Merchandising, as well as other areas of the organization
• Build relationships (internally and externally) and identify new opportunities within the organization and act to effectively implement change to improve results
• Foster a culture of collaboration across the organization to support merchandising decisions, directives and initiatives. Examples include collaborating with:
  • Marketing to maximize eCommerce growth
  • Store Operations Leadership to effectively execute promotions throughout the year to drive sales.
  • Pricing on strategy to achieve key metrics
  • Supply Chain to ensure product availability aligns with business needs, exit strategies are planned, and appropriate tradeoffs are managed
• Ensure all merchandising operations align with the defined category management principles- develop processes and audit mechanisms where there are gaps, coaching and training others to develop competencies
• Empower and challenge Category Leads to own their category by incorporating individual points of view and ideas into their strategy backed by data and analysis
• Manage vendor relationships to maximize COGS in every negotiation. Is firm and is willing to push, will take a risk and ask for more, while maintaining professionalism and health of the long-term relationship

Related Competencies

• Leadership – Able to build highly functional and collaborative teams. Build a robust succession plan and foster a great working environment.
• Building Strategic Working Relationships – Develop and leverage collaborative relationships with other senior leaders throughout the organization to build credibility and strong partnerships.
• Business Acumen – Understand complex business issues and what drives good decision making.
• Navigating Complexity — Proactively and quickly makes sense of complex issues; responds effectively to complex and ambiguous situations; communicates complex information simply.
• Innovation and Problem Solving — Generating innovative solutions in work situations; trying different and novel ways to deal with work problems and opportunities

What do I need?

• BA/BS or equivalent work experience, MBA a plus
• 10+ years experience of multi-category management in merchandise buying
• Retail industry and project management experience is strongly preferred
• Ability to think strategically, plan, implement, lead, and manage
• Proven ability to negotiate and/or influence vendors or leaders for outcomes that are productive and beneficial both short and long term
• Ability to build business relationship across departments and foster a culture of collaboration
• Strong analytical skills; demonstrated ability to drive analysis into action
• Ability to lead a team to build and manage a consumer-driven business
• Understand the needs of the customer, retail locations and the overall organization