Operations Manager-Merchandising

About the Team

There are a lot of activities that happen in our stores so we have a strong cross-functional team focused on doing Anything for Pets by supporting the store teams through effective communications, processes and initiatives. The Store Strategy & Operations department leads the way to support all store activities and define business-driving strategies. The Workforce, Insights & Planning team owns labor optimization and reporting needs.

The Operations & Innovation team owns merchandise execution, process improvement, compliance, store technology and innovation. And the Strategy team leads all the business-driving efforts for Salon, Pets Hotel, Pet Training and In-store customer experience. These teams work diligently to ensure our associates, pets and pet parents are supported, while operating efficiently to drive the business.

Collaborative Work Environment:
At Pet Smart, teamwork and connection are core to how we thrive. This role is based at our Phoenix Home Office, with an expectation of working a minimum of four days in the office each week. In a standard work week, associates may work up to one remote “flex day” (with leader approval). Our hybrid approach is designed to foster strong collaboration while also supporting flexibility and individual success.

The Merchandise Operations Manager serves as the primary Store Operations point of contact for merchandising, merchandise planning, pricing, and loyalty for in-store operations. This individual contributor role partners across Merchandising, Pricing, Loyalty, Marketing, Store Operations, Technology, Finance, and Field Leadership to translate enterprise strategies into clear, executable store processes. The position owns operational readiness and sustained execution for planner sets, planograms, pricing changes, promotional programs, loyalty initiatives, and related merchandise work streams that improve the customer experience, simplify store execution, and drive sales, conversion, attachment, and loyalty.

• Own the operationalization and enablement of merchandising, merchandise planning, pricing, and loyalty initiatives, ensuring stores are equipped to execute consistently and drive sales.
• Translate merchandising, pricing, loyalty, planograms and planner set strategies into clear, practical, and executable store processes aligned with enterprise objectives.
• Drive alignment between Store Operations and partner teams through the commercial calendar, ensuring planner sets, planograms, pricing changes, promotions, and loyalty initiatives are coordinated, actionable, and executable for stores.
• Provide operational expertise and recommendations to improve the readiness, execution, adoption, and business impact of merchandise-related initiatives.
• Partner with Merchandising, Merchandise Planning, Pricing, Loyalty, Marketing, Technology, Finance, and Field teams to identify store impacts, execution risks, dependencies, and opportunities before initiatives launch.
• Identify operational obstacles and sources of store noise, develop solutions and recommendations, and simplify execution across planner sets, planograms, pricing, promotions, and loyalty programs.
• Foster partnerships between Field and Store Operations to gather feedback, validate execution requirements, and ensure merchandising and commercial initiatives are designed in the best interest of stores, customers, associates, and the brand.
• Oversee merchandise operations performance analysis, including field outlier follow-up, using insights to improve execution, adoption, and business results.
• Ensure timely, concise communication with project stakeholders and field leaders to drive visibility, readiness, and successful execution of merchandise operations initiatives.
• Prioritize and manage multiple projects and recurring business activities in a high-velocity environment, including escalation and contingency planning when execution risks arise.
• Support additional operations programs, projects, and store execution activities as assigned.

• This is an individual contributor role with no direct…