Director of Merchandising

Schoolhouse is a lighting and lifestyle goods company dedicated to the preservation of American manufacturing, thoughtful living, and purposeful design. From iconic lighting to one-of-a-kind homewares, our mission is to provide a new generation of heirlooms that inspire people to create unique, meaningful spaces in which to live and work. Our obsession with quality has compelled us to produce modern heirlooms the old-fashioned way. Our location in Portland, Oregon is where we design our collections, assemble our lighting, ship our finished creations, and most importantly, dream of what’s next.

About the Role / Summary:

The Director of Merchandising for Schoolhouse will create and execute a comprehensive merchandising strategy that supports the Schoolhouse vision and delivers demand, revenue and margin goals. This person will lead the cross-functional team to bring commercially viable and distinctly schoolhouse products to market from concept to launch to product storytelling on-site. In this role, this person will lead the cross-functional team and be the customer expert. This position works closely with Planning, Product Development, Design, Marketing, Creative and Finance.

This is an onsite position working out of our office in Portland, OR.

Key Responsibilities

• Owns the assortment strategy and product performance for all categories of Schoolhouse DTC and Trade business.
• Is the customer expert - uses consumer insights and trends to develop long term assortment plans.
• Interprets sales data and site KPIs to optimize shopping experience and maximize demand.
• Sets short and long term pricing strategies to maximize sales and margin, while maintaining our brand positioning.
• Owns site merchandising of product and product list pages for all categories.
• Partners with the Director of Planning to set and achieve the demand and margin plans. Contributes to monthly OTB forecasting.
• Able to build energy and excitement with cross-functional partners for new product launches with compelling product storytelling and sound strategy
• Present business results, short- and long-range plans as well as product assortments to Senior Leadership on a regular basis.
• Partners with the Head of Product Development to ensure brand calendar adherence and development milestones are hit by all teams.
• Conducts market research and competitive analysis to identify assortment gaps and inform new product strategies.
• Lead weekly and monthly business reviews.
• Lead a highly engaged, high-performing merchandising team, mentor and develop direct reports and team.

Qualifications & Requirements

• 7+ yrs of progressive merchandising experience, with recent oversight of multi-category home goods business, furniture experience preferred
• 5+ yrs overseeing ecommerce business with site merchandising oversight or accountability
• Proven track record of 2-3 years demand growth in managed categories
• Ability to influence and inspire a wide range of partners, stakeholders and team
• Results Driven
• Strong planning and analytical skills
• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills, collaborative.
• Clear understanding of the home goods market, with emphasis on furniture and textiles.
• Attuned to consumer behavior, merchandising trends, competitive pressures
• Right brain/ left brain merchandising approach
• Able to thrive in fast-paced high growth environment
• Must be able to work in US without sponsorship

COMPENSATION

This is an exempt role. The target pay range for this role is between $130,000 - $150,000 per year. This role is eligible for a bonus.

EEO STATEMENT

Food52 is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, providing equal employment and advancement opportunities to all team members. We value diversity and recruit, hire, and promote individuals solely based on talent, qualifications, competence, and merit. We evaluate candidates without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected characteristics as required by law and as a matter of our company values.

WORKING AT SCHOOLHOUSE

As a brand of Food52, Schoolhouse is committed to providing our team with a competitive benefits package. Some of our benefits for 2024 include:

- Food52 funded health benefits (medical, dental, and vision

- Unlimited paid time off

- Monthly fitness reimbursement

- BikeTown (PDX) company-sponsored annual membership

- Generous employee discount across our brand portfolio

- 401K

- FSA / HSA

OUR VALUES

We save everyone a seat.

• We forge connections with our community through kindness, empathy, and personal touch.
• We view everyone as a whole person, and we celebrate what makes us unique.
• We aspire to leave things better than we found them.

We reset the table.

• We actively create opportunities for change and believe in challenging industry norms.
• We clearly communicate our DEI vision and welcome discussion.
• We make room for new and existing members of our community and commit to supporting their needs.

We go off recipe.

• We don’t follow the pack, we lead it.
• We strive to build a great company that continues to grow and develop, with original ideas and unique implementation.

We light the fire.

• Instead of waiting for work to be identified or assigned, we take the initiative and seek it out, embracing action and accountability.
• Put simply: we get stuff done.

We pass the butter.

• We engage in respectful interactions under all circumstances, operating with a “we” not an “I” mentality.
• We lead with positive intent and charitable assumption, and we understand that we are all working towards the same goals.
• We lift each other up by generously bringing what we have to offer to the table.