Manager, Merchandising Strategy

Kate Spade - Merchandising Strategy, Manager

Summary: The Manager of Merchandising Strategy will support the management and evolution of the product strategy across all categories and channels, reporting to the Sr Dir, Merchandising Strategy. This role will focus on data curation and cross-functional project management in support of key brand strategic initiatives.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Merchandising, Strategy, and/or Project Management to...
- Work with global stakeholders including Merchandising, Planning, Data Analytics, Marketing, Licensing, Global Strategy, Consumer Insights, E-Commerce et al. to proactively drive product strategies
- Act as lead merchant partner to grow Home category in partnership with licensing
- Support the identification and incubation of white space opportunities
- Ensure cross-category strategic alignment through partnership with Merchandising, Planning, Design, Marketing, Licensing and E-Commerce
- Partner closely with Tapestry Strategy, Consumer Insights, and Transformation teams to ensure connection to the overarching organization strategy and champion Kate Spade brand needs
- Analyze customer metrics and sales data to drive actionable insights in support of development of superior product that our customer loves and wants
- Support and drive implementation of new analytic tools and updates in conjunction with internal teams and outside vendors to champion merchandising needs and capabilities
- Generate weekly, monthly and quarterly data reports for internal business reviews
- Support SVP Chief Merchant in producing meeting presentation materials
- Drive execution of brand projects both as a project manager and strong individual contributor
- Develop strong relationships with business partners at all levels
The accomplished individual will possess...
- Experience managing projects using both quantitative and qualitative data sources, including ability to provide direction and successfully generate results working with internal or external resources
- Demonstrated strategic and analytic leadership and strong broad business acumen
- Ability to demonstrate thought leadership both as an individual contributor and when leading others
- Advanced problem solving and analytical skills.
- Advanced oral, written and formal presentation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to generate innovative insights from rigorous analysis
- Strong interest in working in retail
An outstanding professional will have...
- Bachelor's degree preferred
- 5-6 years of Merchandising and/orPlanning experience required
- Previous experience in the retail industry required
- Expertise in Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint required
- Global experiencea plus

Our Competencies for All Employees
- Courage: Doesn't hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and "actionable" positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
- Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
- Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
- Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn't upset when things are up in the air; doesn't have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
- Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
- Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
- Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
Our Competencies for All People Managers
- Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
- Developing Direct Reports and Others:Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
- Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong moraleand spirit in theirteam; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Kate Spade is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant's or employee's qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under the consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. Visit Kate Spade at #LI-MS1 www.katespade.com .