Director of Merchandise overseeing the Bike division at Backcountry. Strategic leadership role aimed at growing the business through market insights and cross-functional collaboration.
Responsibilities
Drive financial performance, achieving aggressive sales, margin, and inventory turn goals across all channels and platforms.
Develop and maintain the optimal bike assortment strategy, integrating technical expertise, industry trends, and customer insights.
Build and nurture strategic relationships with vendors, negotiating pricing, terms, and key buys to maximize gross margin and support differentiated product stories.
Harness advanced analytics, including AI-powered demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and consumer trend modeling to inform merchandising and financial decisions.
Lead and mentor a high-performing merchandising team, fostering accountability, professional development, and a rigorous, results-oriented culture.
Oversee the flow of inventory, ensuring optimal stock levels, high velocity turns, and minimal waste through predictive analytics and agile buying practices.
Partner with Planning on annual and seasonal budgets, forecasting, and KPI reporting, leveraging AI and data science for enhanced accuracy and opportunity identification.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing and Creative, developing promotions and campaigns that drive brand engagement and capture emerging industry narratives.
Uphold and advance category content standards, visual merchandising, and taxonomy for improved customer experience and conversion rates.
Monitor team and category KPIs, utilizing advanced reporting platforms and AI-powered data visualization to detect trends and prescribe action plans.
Requirements
Bachelor's degree (Business, Supply Chain Management, or related field preferred); Master's degree a plus.
10+ years in retail buying/merchandising, with extensive e-commerce and bike industry experience.
Demonstrated record of strategic sourcing, vendor negotiation, and assortment development in fast-paced, multi-channel environments.
Deep analytical and presentation skills; fluency in Excel; experience with purchasing, planning, and reporting systems.
Results-oriented leadership style with a passion for fostering high-performing, data-driven teams.
Track record of leveraging AI, machine learning, or advanced analytics for merchandising, planning, or consumer insights.
Outstanding communication and negotiation capability.
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and time management.
Genuine enthusiasm for the cycling industry and deep understanding of key brands, trends, and consumer behavior.
Experience or demonstrated aptitude integrating AI-powered forecasting, inventory optimization, and consumer data analytics into merchandising decisions and reporting workflows.
Ability to identify, adopt, and champion new technologies and platforms that advance our competitive position.
Strong understanding of how machine learning and data science can transform buy plans, assortment curation, and personalized marketing.
Benefits
Executive Access: Work directly with brand CEOs and senior leadership, solving real business problems and earning mentorship from top operators.
AI-First Skill Building: Get hands-on with the most advanced AI tools in the market. From automation to prompt engineering, you’ll build a modern tech stack that sets you apart in any industry.
Accelerated Career Path: High performers are quickly entrusted with greater responsibility, new challenges, and leadership opportunities across our portfolio of brands.
Competitive benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k)/RRSP match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts at our portfolio companies
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