Divisional Merchandise Manager, Ski & Snow Hardgoods

Overview

Backcountry connects people to their passions through four online stores—Backcountry, Competitive Cyclist, Moto Sport and Steepand Cheap—aiming to supply gear, knowledge, and inspiration for customers to pursue life’s greatest moments. The company provides a large assortment of premium outdoor products, a superior shopping experience, Gearhead expertise, fast fulfillment, and community-centered content.

Divisional Merchandise Manager, Ski & Snow Hardgoods will define and lead the strategy for one of Backcountry’s most critical categories. You’ll own the end-to-end category vision across resort ski, backcountry/touring, and snowboard, ensuring differentiated assortments, compelling customer experiences, and strong financial performance in a highly seasonal business. This role requires a leader with deep industry expertise, global market awareness, and sharp commercial instincts.

This position reports to the VP, Merchandising Hardgoods.

What you get to do every day:

• Define and execute a multi-year strategy across ski, snowboard, and backcountry hardgoods
• Leverage a strong understanding of the global vendor and brand landscape to identify opportunities and trends
• Translate regional customer needs (e.g., East vs. West mountains) into assortment strategies
• Drive top-line growth, gross margin, sell-through rate, and inventory productivity in partnership with Inventory Planning and Finance

• Build tiered assortments that serve multiple customer segments across price points and expertise levels
• Curate a balanced mix of full-price, off-price, and closeout product to maximize lifecycle value
• Lead end-of-season closeout buying strategies to optimize turns and minimize risk; coordinate with Inventory Planning and Finance on open-to-buy and receipt timing
• Ensure assortments drive units per transaction (UPT) through thoughtful cross-category integration

• Develop and deepen strategic partnerships with key ski and snow brands through on-site vendor meetings, business reviews, product testing, and new product reviews
• Lead business development initiatives with vendors to unlock exclusive opportunities
• Create SMUs and exclusive assortments that differentiate Backcountry from competitors
• Maintain a strong pulse on competitive positioning and brand strategies

• Champion end-to-end customer journey across digital and retail touchpoints
• Partner with teams to build and scale demo fleet and seasonal rental programs
• Ensure seamless integration of hardgoods with accessories, travel gear, and related categories

• Partner closely with Inventory Planning to align open-to-buy, manage receipt flow, and optimize in-season reorder and markdown decisions across a highly seasonal business
• Collaborate with Finance, Marketing, and Digital/UX teams to align category investments with financial targets, campaign timing, and on-site merchandising execution
• Leverage sell-through data, digital conversion metrics, and customer demand signals to inform assortment decisions, identify risk, and surface opportunities in real time

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing merchandising team
• Establish clear goals aligned to business outcomes and hold teams accountable
• Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and continuous improvement

• Deep expertise in ski and snowboard hardgoods, with a strong point of view on product and trends
• Strong understanding of the global snow market, vendor landscape, and brand ecosystem
• Proven ability to translate regional nuances (East vs. West, Resort vs. Backcountry) into winning strategies
• Extensive experience managing highly seasonal businesses, including lifecycle and inventory planning
• Demonstrated success building assortments across multiple price tiers and customer expertise levels
• Experience across full-price, off-price, and closeout channels, with a focus on end-of-season optimization
• Background in retail service models, including demo fleets and rental strategies
• Experience developing SMUs, exclusives, and differentiated…