Merchandising Manager - Birch Lane

Merchandising Manager - Birch Lane

The Merchandising Manager will lead the Upholstery & Outdoor vertical for Birch Lane within Wayfair's Specialty Retail Brands (SRBs). This role owns the strategy, performance, and team for two of Birch Lane's highest-visibility categories, reporting into the Birch Lane Head Merchant and partnering closely with peers across All Modern and Joss & Main.

You'll be the vertical lead for Upholstery & Outdoor: setting the vision, defining the roadmap, and driving execution across assortment, pricing, promotions, availability, and supplier partnerships. You'll also manage and develop a team of two merchants, providing clear direction, coaching, and structure so the team can operate confidently at the respective bar.

• Category strategy & P&L:
  Define and execute the multi-season strategy for Birch Lane Upholstery & Outdoor, including assortment, shelf-space, and pricing / promo plans that deliver sales, margin, and share goals.
• Assortment curation:
  Decide what "earns the shelf" for Birch Lane across onsite and marketing placements (homepages, emails, shops, etc.), using data and customer insights to identify tomorrow's best sellers and fill assortment gaps.
• Supplier relationships:
  Lead relationships with a focused set of strategic suppliers, negotiating terms, aligning on joint business plans, and driving MAP/WSC, availability, and newness outcomes that are durable for the business.
• Cross-functional leadership:
  Act as the Upholstery & Outdoor point person for Category Management, WGS Sourcing, Pricing, Promotions, Brand, Creative, and Retail—framing problems, driving alignment, and ensuring clean execution against your strategy.
• People leadership:
  Manage and develop two direct reports (L1 merchants), providing structure, feedback, and growth opportunities while raising the overall bar for the Birch Lane merchant team.
• Trade shows & market:
  Represent Birch Lane at key markets and supplier summits; drive sample review, pipeline prioritization, and follow-through so market work shows up clearly in the business.

• Experienced merchant / buyer:
  Typically 4–6+ years in merchandising, buying, category management, or a similar commercial role with increasing P&L scope; upholstery/outdoor or furniture experience is a plus but not required.
• P&L and data fluent:
  Comfortable owning a sizeable book of business; you use data to size opportunities, pressure-test plans, and make clear trade-offs across topline, margin, and inventory.
• Structured leader:
  You can independently define the plan from a broad objective, keep multiple complex work streams moving, and give your team and partners clear priorities and expectations.
• Strong relationship builder:
  You're effective with suppliers and cross-functional partners, can navigate contention, and influence senior stakeholders with clear, concise communication.
• SRB-minded:
  Excited about brand-led merchandising, have an opinion on the Birch Lane customer and aesthetic, and are energized by partnering across All Modern and Joss & Main to build total-SRB strategies.
• Travel:
  Willing to travel periodically (4-6x/year) for trade shows, sourcing trips (Asia/international), supplier visits, and store / market walks.