Director, Ecommerce Merchandising

Reflex Performance Resources

New York, NY, USA

Published: 6/14/2022

Technology

Full Time

Job Description

The Opportunity:

Reflex is seeking a Director, Ecommerce Merchandising to lead the commercial strategy and day-to-day execution of our ecommerce business.

This is a highly visible leadership role with ownership of our seasonal ecommerce assortment, product launch calendar, promotional strategy, visual merchandising, CRM calendar, and the cross-functional processes required to bring each collection and campaign to market successfully. The Director will also lead several of the teams responsible for executing that vision, including Art/Graphic Design, Photography/Videography, Social Media, and Customer Service.

We are looking for someone who has helped grow and scale a meaningful fashion, apparel, or closely related ecommerce business and understands how product, inventory, creative, marketing, and operations must work together to drive both revenue and profitability.

This is not a role focused simply on maintaining an ecommerce site or coordinating projects. You will have meaningful authority over what we sell online, when and how we launch it, how we merchandise and promote it, and how our internal teams organize around the ecommerce calendar.

What You'll Own

Ecommerce Assortment & Merchandising Strategy

Own Reflex's seasonal ecommerce product strategy and assortment, including style and color selection, collection composition, launch timing, site merchandising, markdowns, and promotional decisions.
Build commercially compelling seasonal assortments that balance brand vision, customer demand, historical performance, inventory considerations, newness, and revenue and margin opportunities.
Partner closely with the Director of Ecommerce Planning & Operations on forecasting, inventory depth, historical performance, replenishment opportunities, and assortment productivity.
Synthesize input from Brand Creative Directors and Designers, Sales, Production, Planning, and executive leadership into a cohesive ecommerce assortment rather than treating each input as an independent product request.
Identify opportunities for ecommerce-exclusive products, capsules, collections, strategic relaunches, and other product initiatives designed specifically for the direct-to-consumer customer.
Continuously evaluate product and category performance and adjust merchandising, promotional, markdown, and launch strategies accordingly.

Revenue & Profitability

Be directly accountable for achieving defined ecommerce net revenue and profitability targets.
Translate company financial objectives into assortment, merchandising, launch, and promotional strategies capable of delivering against those targets.
Work with Planning & Operations and Analytics to understand performance, identify opportunities and risks, and make timely commercial decisions.
Balance top-line growth with margin, inventory productivity, promotional efficiency, and long-term brand health.

Ecommerce Calendar & Cross-Functional Execution

Own the ecommerce go-to-market calendar across seasonal launches, product drops, promotions, campaigns, and major commercial moments.
Establish the milestones, dependencies, deliverables, and deadlines required from Ecommerce, Design, Production, Sales, Shipping, Creative, and other partners for each launch.
Drive accountability across parallel workstreams to ensure product, inventory, imagery, creative, copy, merchandising, and marketing assets are ready when required.
Proactively identify risks to launch timing, resolve cross-functional roadblocks, and escalate missed commitments when necessary.
Create greater discipline and predictability around the launch process so that ecommerce initiatives execute according to plan rather than being dependent on last-minute coordination.
Coordinate work within the ecommerce organization to ensure internal processes are completed on schedule and every team understands what must be delivered, by whom, and by when.

Promotional, CRM & Content Strategy

Own the ecommerce promotional calendar across the website, email, SMS, paid media, and supporting marketing channels.
Determine promotional concepts, featured collections, styles, outfits, and product stories based on commercial objectives, inventory, customer behavior, seasonality, and brand priorities.
Translate the promotional calendar into clear creative and content requirements for Art/Graphic Design, Photography/Videography, Social Media, and other content partners.
Own the strategic direction of Reflex's email and SMS programs, including campaign priorities, promotional messaging, featured products, creative direction, and campaign approvals.
Review and approve campaign creative prepared within Klaviyo, Attentive, and related platforms, while partnering with the Director of Marketing Analytics on automated flow strategy, measurement, testing, and optimization.
Collaborate with Analytics and channel partners to develop tests, interpret results, and continually improve promotional effectiveness.

Creative, Social & Customer Experience Leadership

Manage approximately six direct reports across Art/Graphic Design, Photography/Videography, Social Media, and Customer Service.
Set clear priorities, briefs, deadlines, and commercial objectives while giving experienced functional specialists appropriate autonomy over execution within their disciplines.
Provide the overarching ecommerce vision that connects merchandising, visual presentation, photography, graphic design, social content, and promotional storytelling.
Review creative output through both a brand and commercial lens, ensuring that work is visually strong while accomplishing the objective of the campaign or product launch.
Resolve creative or prioritization disagreements when necessary and maintain alignment around the broader ecommerce strategy.
Develop team members, establish clear accountability, and create operating rhythms that allow the department to execute consistently without excessive day-to-day escalation.

Social Commerce, Affiliates & Community Growth

Partner with and lead the Social Media team in developing programs that expand ecommerce acquisition and engagement beyond traditional paid media.
Help build and scale creator, affiliate, ambassador, influencer, UGC collection, seeding, and community-driven marketing programs.
Create stronger connections between social content, product launches, merchandising priorities, and commercial objectives.
Develop repeatable processes for acquiring high-quality customer and creator content that can support organic social, ecommerce, CRM, and paid marketing.

Ecommerce Leadership

You will be one of three Directors forming the ecommerce leadership team under the COO, working closely with:

The Director of Ecommerce Planning & Operations, who leads forecasting, inventory depth, planning, and ecommerce operational execution.
The Director of Marketing Analytics, who leads ecommerce analytics, performance measurement, CRM automation logic, testing analysis, and analytical support for performance marketing and conversion optimization.

The three functions are designed to operate as close partners. The Director of Ecommerce Merchandising owns the commercial product vision and go-to-market strategy; Planning & Operations ensures that vision is supported by the right inventory and operational plan; and Analytics provides the measurement and insight required to make better decisions and improve performance.

What We're Looking For

Required Experience & Qualifications

8+ years of progressive experience in ecommerce, digital merchandising, ecommerce merchandising, or related DTC leadership roles, with meaningful experience in a leadership capacity.
Demonstrated experience helping grow or scale a successful ecommerce business, ideally within fashion, apparel, activewear, accessories, beauty, or another visually merchandised and seasonally driven consumer category.
Deep understanding of fashion/apparel ecommerce merchandising and assortment planning, including seasonal assortment construction, product selection, collection architecture, launch cadence, markdowns, promotions, and visual merchandising.
Strong commercial instincts and demonstrated experience making product and merchandising decisions based on a combination of customer demand, historical performance, inventory, brand direction, and financial objectives.
Experience being accountable for meaningful revenue, margin, profitability, or other commercial performance targets.
Significant people-management experience, including experience leading teams across multiple disciplines or functions.
Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional launch calendars involving numerous parallel workstreams, dependencies, and stakeholders.
Confidence establishing deadlines, holding teams accountable, resolving competing priorities, and escalating issues when required to protect a launch or business objective.
Strong understanding of ecommerce creative, digital visual merchandising, promotional strategy, CRM, social media, and the broader customer journey.
Experience developing promotional calendars and translating commercial strategies into actionable briefs for creative and marketing teams.
Strong analytical fluency and the ability to use data to make decisions without losing sight of brand, product, and customer considerations.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with creative, analytical, operational, production, sales, and executive stakeholders.

Strongly Preferred

Meaningful experience building or scaling affiliate, creator, ambassador, influencer, UGC, product-seeding, or community-based acquisition programs.
Hands-on familiarity with the strategic use of Klaviyo, Attentive, or comparable email and SMS platforms.
Experience working closely with paid social, paid search, performance marketing, and CRO teams or agencies.
Experience managing or directing photography, graphic design, social media, or other ecommerce creative functions.
Experience with ecommerce-exclusive capsule collections, product collaborations, limited drops, or other product strategies designed specifically for a DTC channel.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means that Reflex has a clear, commercially compelling ecommerce assortment and launch strategy—and that the organization consistently executes against it.

Our seasonal and promotional calendars are planned earlier. Product decisions reflect both creative vision and commercial evidence. Cross-functional teams understand their deadlines and deliverables. Launches happen when planned. Creative work is connected to merchandising priorities. Our social, creator, affiliate, and UGC programs become more sophisticated. Decisions happen faster because ownership is clear.

Most importantly, those improvements translate into stronger ecommerce net revenue and profitability.

The Candidate Who Will Thrive Here

The strongest candidate will be equally comfortable discussing which colors and silhouettes belong in a seasonal collection, why a particular product deserves a larger launch, how a promotional calendar should evolve based on inventory and customer behavior, and what needs to happen across five different teams to make the launch actually occur on time.

You should have strong opinions and good judgment, but you should also know how to use data, listen to subject-matter experts, and distinguish between decisions that require your involvement and work that should be entrusted to the people you lead.

We are looking for someone who sees opportunities to create better systems, stronger calendars, better assortments, more effective marketing programs, and a more scalable ecommerce organization, and who is excited to take ownership of making those improvements happen.

Reflex is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and consider qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics.

\nCompany Description

Reflex Performance Resources Inc. is a global sourcing company that specializes in the manufacturing and sale of Activewear Apparel. Our ultimate mission is to create lifestyle brands that combine the elements of style, comfort, fit, and performance. We pride ourselves on producing high quality garments that are affordable and accessible.