Project Analyst

About This Role

Retail Projects – Store Merchandising Project Analyst will work alongside the Retail Projects Merchandising Project Manager to provide scalable, high-quality retail merchandising resources to support in-store retail capital projects (new stores and renovations).

You will be responsible for managing the day-to-day relationships and requirements of Ace’s 3rd Party Merchandise Services Organizations to provide scalable merchandising services needed and the quality required to meet the needs of Ace Hardware Corporation's capital projects. In addition, you will work directly with the Project Managers and Regional Project Managers on pricing and scheduling of merchandising teams.

• Lead the process of managing, assigning, and negotiating with Merchandise Service Organizations (MSO) for all store projects. The right skill set for the project at the best possible price.
• Successfully manage strong relationships between Ace Hardware and our MSO teams. This role is the conduit between Ace and our service providers.
• Assist in maintaining proper standard operating procedures for retail projects, training MSO to ensure quality projects, cost containment, and timeliness of completion.
• Responsible for managing the merchandising appointment calendar (MAC) used by field project managers to plan upcoming projects.
• Continually evaluate systems, guidelines, etc. that impact the capital project pipeline to anticipate the ability to meet the current needs and in the future.
• Develop curriculum and lead training seminars for new and existing MSOs, driving consistency & quality to our retailers when executing projects.

You have the ability to manage several vendor relationships shifting priorities, and can manage through challenging situations. You love supporting stakeholders with the critical resources to complete capital projects successfully. You have been successful at creating and maintaining strong vendor relationships while achieving competitive requirements.

• A minimum of 3 years of retail or vendor management experience with a strong background in communications and negotiations
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred (commensurate experience considered)
• Must have research, analytical, planning and organization skills
• Demonstrated leadership abilities by leading without direct reports / open to coaching
• Excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills
• Proven ability to work horizontally and vertically across an organization of diverse teams and leadership styles.
• Problem-solving skills with the ability to take a multitude of tasks and take clear, logical, and efficient action steps
• Results-oriented with a proven track record of accomplishments
• Ability to travel to meetings and conventions, Travel expectations up to 40%
• Excellent software skills, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, and project management software

• Vendor negotiation experience across multiple vendors and project types
• Experience with Smartsheet – workflow management software

$88,400 - $110,700 Per Year

We live our values - W.E.L.I.G.H.T (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility, and Teamwork). Gratitude. Humility. Love. You don’t often see values like these in most corporate statements, but Ace is different. These things are important to us. They represent our commitment to the company, our employees, to Ace retailers and to the Ace brand.

In addition to providing our employees a great culture, Ace also offers competitive benefits that address life’s necessities and perks, many of which expand and improve year after year, including:

• Incentive opportunities, based on role/grade level (rapid company growth over the past 5 years resulted in incentives being paid out at an average of 122% of your target opportunity!)
• Generous 401(k) retirement savings plan with a fully vested matching contribution the first year in addition to quarterly contributions and annual discretionary contribution (once eligibility requirements have been met). Over the past 5 years, company contributions (matching, quarterly & discretionary) for…