Vice President, Merchandising

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Canada, +1 more country.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the complete merchandising function for a designated portfolio brand, which includes assortment strategy, vendor partnerships, catalog quality, pricing, margin, and promotional calendar.

• Establish category and price-point assortment strategy while performing ongoing assortment gap analyses.

• Manage SKU productivity and articulate the brand’s merchandising perspective.

• Identify, propose, and secure new drop-ship vendors.

• Negotiate commercial agreements that encompass cost, margin, freight, delivery, returns, damages, marketing funding, rebates, and exclusivity.

• Assess vendor operational costs and adjust terms or terminate underperforming partnerships.

• Oversee vendor service level commitments, scorecards, and conduct quarterly business reviews.

• Develop and manage exclusive and collaboratively created product programs.

• Represent the brand at markets and trade exhibitions.

• Ensure catalog quality, including taxonomy, attribution, imagery, copy, dimensions, and lead-time accuracy.

• Normalize vendor feeds and collaborate with technology on scalable catalog systems.

• Work closely with Site Merchandising and Marketing on category architecture, search relevance, collections, gifting, and seasonal initiatives.

• Maintain gross margin, pricing strategy, MAP/MSRP discipline, and vendor-funded promotions.

• Collaborate with Finance and the CEO on revenue and margin planning while reporting on business performance.

• Automate regular analysis and reporting using AI, implementing AI-enabled merchandising workflows.

• Demonstrate AI adoption and develop AI-assisted capabilities for non-technical merchants.

• Validate AI outputs against source data and commercial logic.

• Build, mentor, and nurture the merchandising team.

• Collaborate with Marketing, Site, Operations, Finance, and the CEO on overarching company strategy.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 10 years of experience in merchandising, buying, or category management within retail or e-commerce, including direct leadership of personnel.

• Proven track record of owning a revenue and gross margin figure.

• Genuine experience in vendor negotiation, including establishing and revising commercial terms.

• Proficient in product data and catalog management, including PIM or equivalent, taxonomy and attribution, and large-scale item setup.

• Familiarity with AI tools and hands-on experience with AI-assisted technologies like Claude, Copilot, or BI-native AI features.

• Experience linking AI-assisted tools to live data sources such as a data warehouse or ERP.

• Strong analytical and financial acumen.

• Proficiency in Excel and comfort with SQL or a BI tool.

• Capability to translate data into sound decisions.

• Ability to operate independently within a lean team reporting directly to a CEO.

• Preferable experience in drop-ship or marketplace merchandising.

• Experience within the home, furniture, or home decor categories is preferred.

• Employment is contingent upon a background check, which includes verification of previous employment dates.

• Must be willing and able to attend a mandatory in-person interview prior to receiving an offer.

🏝️ Benefits

• Paid time off policies.

• RRSP match (Canada).

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage (Canada).

• A variety of supplemental benefit options (Canada).

• Employee discounts across the brand portfolio.

• 401(k) match (US).

• Medical, dental, vision coverage, and supplemental policies (US).