Freelance Merchandiser

Most companies claim to have the best people. We say to them, "Keep dreaming." Our people are second to none. They set us apart with their entrepreneurial spirit and ambition. They come to us from the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks and the sports world, bringing energy, bold ideas and a willingness to dive into the unfamiliar. It's our people that make BDA the top global Merchandise Agency to work for.

This freelance Merchandiser is responsible for independently developing, sourcing, and curating compelling and profitable product assortments for our clients.  Negotiate and develop strategic supplier relationships.  The merchandiser must earn the trust of internal and external customers by building assortment strategies that deliver creative and profitable products that represent the clients’ brands and speak to the end customer.  May be responsible for developing direct reports.

BDA’s ideal merchant is ambitious in nature, detail-oriented, comfortable working in cross-functional teams, and passionate about the retail and e-commerce industry.  They are organized and adept at time management skills.

Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of work and experience.
• Minimum 3-5 years of retail buying, product development, merchandising and/or planning experience.
• 1-3 years management experience preferred
• Fluency in MS Office suite including Excel, Word, PowerPoint.
• Retail and customer service experience preferred.
• Smartsheet experience a plus.
• PLM/Oracle experience preferred.

Job Skills & Traits

• Experience initiating, recommending, and implementing merchandise strategies.
• Strong understanding of and ability to apply market intelligence.
• Understanding of retail and the service environment.
• Experience identifying and interpreting product trends.
• Experience analyzing and applying consumer data.
• Track record of building profitable assortment plans.
• Skilled at cross functional influence.
• Experience working with accounts or retail stores to deliver profitable and relevant assortments.
• Works and communicates effectively with cross divisional leadership.
• Actively demonstrates managerial courage and is an advocate for their teams.
• Consensus building skills - Ability to persuade co-workers of the benefits of positive changes.
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication and strong interpersonal skills.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Participate in Assortment Analysis meetings and contribute to pre-assortment strategy discussion.
• Define seasonal product strategies that identify future opportunities and trends.
• Ability to take current trends and translate into creative product applicable to client business type.
• Gather new/relevant trend info from WGSN and other trend resources in preparation for new line development.
• Negotiate, build and source strategic and profitable product assortments.
• Independently drive sales through the selection of product, pricing and return on investment.
• Use current and historical data to evaluate what is working effectively or not and create actionable insights that inform the line architecture.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical thinking and how to apply to the business.
• Run weekly merchandise status calls with clients and internal WIP meetings as needed.
• Ensure successful product line presentations to clients.
• Use data and influencing skills to gain partnership from internal partners and clients on assortment strategies to ensure profitability.
• Share productivity of assortment with accounts and internal partners.
• Confidence and ability to articulate and sell a concept to a business team.
• Responsible for areas including compliance, quality, and operational metrics (metrics including compliance, alliance partners, product margin, etc.)
• Negotiate buying terms with suppliers (price, quantity, quality, delivery, etc.).
• Oversee the execution of product launches.

We are pleased to share the hourly rate for this freelance role is $35.00 - $40.00 an hour.

Any travel involved? Minimal if at all

Any financial/budgetary responsibility? Yes, minimal

Strategic planning responsibilities? Yes

Number of staff reporting to this position.  Up to 3