Merchandising Manager, EvoShield Apparel

Overview

Merchandising Manager, Evo Shield Apparel

Chicago, IL | Hybrid

At Wilson, we are here to empower every human to live like an athlete. Passion. Creativity. Integrity. Teamwork. Ambition. Innovation. These are the qualities that have made Wilson Sporting Goods Co. the number one sports equipment brand in the world. We come together to win, grow, and celebrate. We all play for Team Wilson. We all have a role to play within our organization and are working towards the same goal.

One team, one dream.

We believe that being an athlete isn’t something you do, it’s who you are. It’s a universal code of conduct, a way of seeing the world and how you show up every day. We seek out diverse voices and welcome all perspectives. Our team is composed of individuals with unique backgrounds, points of view and experiences. These perspectives create a rich and diverse culture in which we learn from one another through empathy and inclusion.

Evolving the sports world and being the best partner for players, athletes, and our community is no small task. We are continually looking to add enthusiastic, ambitious, team-first individuals who desire to make a difference —and who love to help others win. Together, we will create a better world through sport. Join us.

The Merchandising Manager, Evo Shield Apparel will be an integral part of the Commercial Team, working to establish and build the emerging Evo Shield Apparel business within the wholesale channel in the USA with a focus on capturing the off-field apparel market for competitive ballplayers. Segments include licensed apparel, lifestyle apparel, and uniform basics.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead the creation and execution of overall merchandising strategy, product assortment, and financial planning roadmaps to optimize Evo Shield’s growth and business unit development.
• Define seasonal and long-term merchandising strategies for sales, margin, and inventory turnover to result in product assortments that exceed customer expectations and the business unit’s financial and operational goals.
• Evaluate market trends, competitor moves, and consumer insights to uncover new opportunities and guide strategic product assortment and pricing decisions.
• Work closely with product design and development teams, production leads, PLM, sales, and inventory managers to create the best possible assortment of products and levels of inventory to optimize our growth and profitability. Optimize production cycles to ideally complement the custom uniform and apparel business.
• Develop a meaningful feedback loop with consumers to ensure PLM’s, creatives, and stakeholders are developing for emerging trends at the front end of the cycle.
• Partner with supply and demand planners to analyze and manage inventory levels. Channel-right assortments and efficient use of base garments across the business are essential.
• Collaborate with the full Omni-Channel organization to determine short- and long-term direction of the product line. Lead and develop in-store merchandising strategies with key customers to ensure our brands show up at their best.
• Specifically responsible for wholesale channel pricing, revenue targets, and PGP, product line assortment, introduction of products, launch dates, product life cycle, exit strategies for apparel designed for the retail shopping environment.
• Collaborate with key dealers/retailers on seasonal sales opportunities.
• Ensure product timelines are in harmony with launch targets and strategies for collaborative decision making.
• Other duties as assigned.

We are seeking candidates with a Bachelor’s Degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, or a related discipline (advanced degree preferred) and a minimum of 5 years of apparel merchandising industry experience. The ideal candidate will also have a deep understanding of the competitive ballplayer and their off-field interests and habits in addition to their apparel merchandising experience.

Other qualifications include:

• Great consumer insights – a deep understanding of the habits of our distinct consumers:
  • Competitive ballplayers, age 10-18 that identifies…