Director, Digital Merchandising

Company Description

VERSANT is a leading force in news, sports and entertainment - home to iconic and trusted brands that inspire, inform, and delight audiences. Our unique combination of content, technology and services enriches the cultural fabric, igniting passions, sparking conversations, and connecting people to what they love most.

As an independent, publicly traded company, VERSANT brings together powerhouse cable networks - including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel - with dynamic digital and direct-to-consumer brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Together, these businesses reflect our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across every screen and service.

VERSANT is an industry-changing media company fueled by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a strong foundation and a forward-looking vision, VERSANT empowers creativity, embraces change, and drives connection in an ever-evolving world.

Job Description

We are seeking a strategic, data-driven Digital Merchandising Director to lead on-site merchandising and promotional execution across our entertainment portfolio, including:

• Fandango.com
• Fandango at Home (athome.fandango.com)
• RottenTomatoes.com

This role sits at the center of multiple brands and business lines and is responsible not only for optimizing content placement and conversion performance, but also for driving clear prioritization, transparent tradeoff decisions, and alignment to company-level objectives across our most valuable digital surfaces.

The ideal candidate combines commercial acumen, analytical rigor, and strong cross-functional leadership to ensure our homepage, high-traffic modules, and promotional real estate consistently deliver against enterprise priorities.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Merchandising Leadership

• Own the top funnel execution for leadership determined merchandising strategy across homepage and high-impact surfaces for all assigned properties.
• Balance strategic priorities across; AVOD, TVOD and Ticketing businesses.
• Ensure our most valuable placements and promotional inventory are consistently aligned to company-level goals (revenue, margin, audience growth, partner commitments, etc.).
• Establish clear prioritization frameworks across brands and business lines to guide placement decisions.
• Balance short-term revenue opportunities with long-term audience and brand objectives.
• Identify cross-property opportunities to create cohesive user journeys (e.g., discovery on Rotten Tomatoes → ticket purchase on Fandango → at-home transaction).

2. Prioritization & Tradeoff Management

• Work directly with business leaders to resolve trade-offs efficiently and transparently, clearly articulating rationale grounded in data and business impact.
• Develop and socialize merchandising calendars that reflect enterprise-level prioritization.
• Create decision frameworks and documentation that bring clarity and consistency to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Partner with senior leadership to align merchandising plans with quarterly and annual company objectives.

3. Performance Optimization & Analytics

• Monitor and optimize KPIs including conversion rate, revenue per visit, ticket sales, PVOD/streaming transactions, engagement, and attribution.
• Work with product when appropriate, to conduct A/B testing and iterative experimentation to improve performance across surfaces.
• Translate analytics into actionable merchandising recommendations for leaders.
• Deliver regular performance recaps and executive-ready summaries linking placement strategy to business outcomes.

4. Campaign & Release Execution

• Work with leaders to help implement merchandising plans around major theatrical releases, home entertainment launches, awards season, tentpole events, and seasonal campaigns.
• Ensure accurate, timely, and high-quality execution across platforms.
• Partner with Studio Relations, Marketing, Editorial, Product, and Ad Sales to ensure alignment and flawless delivery.

5. Customer Experience & Surface Stewardship

• Act as the steward of our highest-traffic digital surfaces, ensuring clarity, consistency, and optimal user flow.
• Leverage audience segmentation and personalization opportunities where appropriate.
• Continuously evaluate UX, competitive benchmarks, and industry trends to elevate the customer journey.

Key Competencies

• Enterprise mindset with strong commercial instincts
• Clear and decisive prioritization skills
• Data-informed decision making
• Cross-functional leadership and influence
• Structured problem solving
• Executive-level communication

What Success Looks Like

• Clear, documented prioritization across brands and business lines
• Faster, more transparent resolution of merchandising tradeoffs
• High-value surfaces consistently aligned with company-level objectives
• Measurable lift in revenue, conversion, and engagement driven by optimized placement strategy
• Strong cross-functional trust in merchandising decision-making

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 4–7+ years of experience in digital merchandising, e-commerce, or content-driven commerce.
• Experience managing high-traffic consumer-facing websites.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize across competing stakeholders and business objectives.
• Strong analytical skills; experience with tools such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or similar.
• Proven track record of driving measurable revenue or engagement growth.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate tradeoffs and influence stakeholders.

Preferred

• Experience in entertainment, media, ticketing, or streaming industries.
• Familiarity with CMS and experimentation platforms (Optimizely, Adobe Target, etc.).
• Experience working in matrixed, multi-brand organizations.

Additional Job Requirements

• Must be willing to work in Orlando, FL or Los Angeles, CA
• This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of three days per week.

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to candidateaccessibility@versantmedia.com.

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.