Lead Merchant, Running Footwear (APLA)

Title: Lead Merchant, Running Footwear (APLA)

Location: Beaverton, OR

Duration: 5 months contract

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

For Nike merchants, everything begins and ends with the consumer! We are looking for a consumerist with an affinity for product who enjoys the energy of moving at the pace of retail and our consumer. A successful Merchant will contribute to an inclusive, positive, and progressive team dynamic. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH 

You will work closely with fellow merchants and cross-functional teams within Geo and Global Merchandising, Planning, and Brand Marketing. We also work with Finance, Operations and the Insights & Analytics teams; relying on business reporting for your area which includes quantitative and qualitative metrics on sales, inventory and consumer behaviors.   

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR 

For Nike merchants, everything begins and ends with the consumer! We are looking for a consumerist with an affinity for product who enjoys the energy of moving at the pace of retail and our consumer. A successful Lead Merchant will contribute to an inclusive, positive, and progressive team dynamic. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.  

This candidate should possess an understanding of the Nike consumer and marketplace landscapes. The candidate should possess solid retail acumen and analytical skills, and an understanding of retail environments.  

At times working autonomously, agile, and solution-oriented, this role is responsible for driving the consumer product offering across the different merchandising dimensions. They will also influence the product offering End to End (from insights to adoption) as well as focusing on multi-season management of Nike’s most innovative franchises! 

• Bachelor's degree or higher, or combination of relevant education, experience, and training 
• 5+ years’ experience in Footwear, Apparel, Equipment, or relevant consumer product merchandising, product creation and/or retail in a vertical, multi-brand or digital environment 
• Strong command of common retail and/or digital metrics such as sell-through, margin, full price realization, weeks of supply, etc. 
• Proven ability to translate consumer, sales, trend, and marketplace insights into in-season and long-term breakthrough strategies 
• Preparing seasonal tools to equip your marketplace partners with an understanding of seasonal priorities. 
• Experience developing strong working relationships with teammates and cross-functional partners 
• Great teammate and contributor, with an attitude and excitement to learn new things 
• Strong communication skills and comfort navigating a cross-functional matrix with an emphasis on influencing skills 
• Attention to detail, understanding the importance of consistency 

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON 

You will build consumer-centric assortment plans with an understanding of the full marketplace, blending fact-based and intuitive inputs. You will participate in seasonal reviews & assortment building in partnership with marketplace account-focused merchants.  

You will balance multiple seasons. Your insights will contribute to future season plans; you will partner with Marketplace and Territory Merchandising for key insights and partner upstream with Global Merchandising to inform future line plans. You will manage your areas of assortment planning in depth during the seasonal process and gather consumer trends and marketplace insights from in-market seasons.