What are the responsibilities and job description for the Vice President of Merchandising position at ExplorUS?
Overview
ExplorUS is a family-owned company with nearly 30 years of experience operating National, State, and local park concessions. Over the years we have worked to enhance, elevate, and complement the visitor’s experience at each park, landmark, and property we operate. We’re seeking a Vice President of Merchandising to effectively lead and oversee the strategic direction of the retail aspects of our organization. This newly created role will be an important aspect of our fast-growing organization with lots of growth potential. Reporting to the COO, this role must reside and be based out of our Overland Park, KS corporate office.
At ExplorUS, we focus on finding small to medium-sized park operations where we can make a large difference. We take great pride in acquiring underperforming park concessions, turning them around, and bringing them up to and beyond the expectations of our park partners and park visitors.
Our success in this industry is tied to the simple belief that we do not consider park concessions to be just another business. We are stewards of the natural, historic, and cultural resources of the parks in which we work and are committed to providing a level of hospitality that honors those resources.
Responsibilities
- Coach and lead the retail team by defining product assortments, developing buying tactics, and monitoring pricing and distribution measures.
- Maximize performance and profitability by executing business plans that expand sales, margins and inventory turnover.
- Develop and maintain strong working relationships within the Retail department, other departments within the company and with all vendors.
- Develop and drive overall category strategy to deliver on top-down sales targets
- Direct the buying teams to develop product assortments that support the needs of the customer while achieving space efficiency.
- Responsible for assortment plans by category and classification.
- Review and reconcile monthly financials to ensure the Retail operation is on target.
- Lead monthly cross-functional business reviews with Merchandising and Planning teams.
- Build partnerships with corporate teams and attend meetings to understand site and seasonal product direction.
- Guide teams to increase knowledge of market trends, strengths, and weaknesses within the industry.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality, Retail, Business Administration or related field or equivalent experience.
- 10 years of experience coaching, developing and leading a merchandising team.
- Proven track record of driving revenue growth and profitability in multi-site hospitality environments.
- Excellent analytical and problem resolution skills with the ability to proactively recommend solutions.
- Strong financial background with proven results in identifying opportunities for revenue and fiscal management.
- Excellent customer service and relationship building skills including effective written and verbal communication.
- Intermediate computer skills with Microsoft Office and familiarity with POS systems.
- Ability to travel 25 - 30% of the time, primarily within busy seasons (Spring, Summer and Fall).
ExplorUS offers a compensation package in the $140-$150k range plus bonus and a comprehensive benefit package. OMNI is honored to be retained in this search. We appreciate your referrals to professionals who may have an interest in this outstanding opportunity. Formal interest accepted through the OMNI Executive Career Portal. Please direct all inquiries to:
OMNI Human Resource Solutions
Anna Robinson, Senior Search Consultant - arobinson@omnihrm.com
OMNI and our clients are Equal Opportunity Employers and seek diversity in candidates for employment. EEO Employer W/M/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.