Vans: Senior Digital Merchandiser

As a Senior Digital Merchandiser, you will support defining and executing merchandising strategies across the North America websites (US and Canada) and mobile app. You will obsess improving customer conversion, AOV, revenue and time on site by presenting Vans’ products in the right way, at the right time, and in the right combination.  You will collaborate closely across the digital team (merchants, content authors, retention and operations SME’s) as well as with other departments – Product, Marketing, Merchandising, and Planning to bring products to life and manage their life cycle on site. Weekly and monthly, you will support reporting efforts across category and aid in constructing the product performance narrative. The position reports to the Manager of Digital Merchandising and is a hybrid position working a minimum of 3 days a week at our Costa Mesa, CA headquarters.

Join the Vans Family

Vans® is the original action sports footwear company, rooted in authenticity and creativity. Founded in 1966, we have thrived on a legacy of impacting our greater community through four pillars: action sports, music, art, and street culture. We are constantly inspired by the creative voyagers within our company and community. For them, creativity is about the journey, not just the output.  Our mission is to empower everyone to use creativity to discover themselves. Our vision is to create a world where anyone can be their unique self.

At Vans, our culture sets us apart and influences everything we do. We are driven by our five values: We have HEART – also referred to as the “Van Doren Spirit.”  We are relentlessly CURIOUS about our consumers and the world around us. We are UNAPOLOGETICALLY AUTHENTIC and wholeheartedly believe the most “Off the Wall” thing you can do is be yourself.  We are driven by a spirit of INGENUITY.  And we are passionate about local COMMUNITIES.  And most of all, we are a family that has fun together.

At Vans we empower creative exploration and inspire youth culture through a commitment to inclusivity. We welcome anyone and everyone into our global family and proudly celebrate an environment where individuality is embraced, equal opportunities thrive, and everyone is empowered to reach their greatest potential.

By joining our family, you will be immersed in an environment of incredibly supportive and collaborative people. We work hard across many initiatives to bring the Van Doren Spirit to life. We live for what we do.

How You Will Make a Difference

What you will do:

• Coauthor a merchandising calendar (product milestones) that serves as the foundation for operating; it feeds into a larger DTC calendar. Attend calendar planning meetings and serve as a key thought partner and stakeholder. Support updating the digital playbook.
• Consistent, daily maintenance of the online store, executing product merchandising strategies across the suite of tools maintaining categorization, product and attribute data, imagery, badging, pricing, bundling, filters, site search, cross sell carousels, shop the look and enhanced features.
• Leverage the site feed to identify data inconsistencies, errors and hygiene tasks and suggest EOL markdown or promotion opportunities.
• Support defining and documenting merchandising processes, roadmap and shared folder structure.
• Conduct thorough Nav, PLP, PDP, site search, and reviews analysis to identify areas for improvement and opportunities to improve and innovate.
• Subject matter expert across the product offering or within assigned categories: sku count, top sellers, worst performers, full price to markdown mix, depth of inventory and discount, highest and lowest price points.
• Manage assigned product categories utilizing site metrics (including product views, reviews, conversion, sell through, style and category penetration, AOV and AUR) to guide areas of focus.
• Meet with Merchandisers and Planners regularly to update on seasonal execution and performance.  Attend seasonal category relevant go-to-market and buy meetings.
• Close partnership with content, retention, merchandising and marketing to brief key products in for seasonal campaigns and emails.
• Learns all product assets in the DAM and looks for opportunities to apply and request assets for enhanced PDPs.
• Support the email retention team through the email proof process to include selecting featured products and providing optimal CTA links.
• Support upcoming seasonal product preparation, ensuring data is correct, complete and attributed far ahead of launch dates.
• Proactively input merchandising bug tickets and track progress through to resolution.
• Lead and mentor merchandisers and coordinators utilizing their strengths coupled with teaching/coaching as needed.

How you will do it:

• Working across the digital team and adjacent teams as well as across tools you will execute the merchandising playbook and establish best practices along the way.

What success looks like:

• Consistently and proactively communicating data insights (sell through, inventory position, product views, CVR, AUR) and proposing actions to peers and team leaders.
• Visible life cycle management in respective categories (PLP|PDP management, Nav updates, badging, markdown efforts).
• Achieving targeted KPI’s season to season.
• Deep knowledge of categories and products within.
• Immersing yourself within the merchandising tools and becoming the resident expert.
• Fostering a focused, collaborative, assertive, and curious team culture.

Free To Be, Inclusion & Diversity

As a mission-led, performance driven company, we strive to foster a culture of belonging based on respect, connection, openness, and authenticity. We are committed to building and maintaining a workplace that celebrates the diversity of our associates, allowing them to bring their authentic selves to work every day.

Skills for Success

Years of Related Professional Experience: 3+ years

Educational Position Requirements:

A formal education and subsequent undergraduate/graduate degrees are nice to have, but we are most interested in your total experience and professional achievements.

The Ideal Candidate: 

• 3-5 years of experience in site merchandising (OMNI experience a plus).
• Comes with a strong point of view and is passionate about product, digital, data and keenly aware of market trends and consumer tastes.
• A strong desire to build and elevate Vans and having that shine through in the curation of the website.
• Product merchandising, buying, planning and or allocation experience a plus.
• Understanding the relationship between AOV, CVR, traffic and revenue and how merchandising impacts those metrics; hyper aware of the existing user journey and always striving towards the optimal user journey.
• Knowledge of merchandising back-end tooling, curious and comfortable working across a tech stack and learning new tools (exposure to Salesforce Commerce Cloud, CMS, Optimizely / A|B testing, Quantum Metrics, Bloomreach, Power Reviews, Salsify) will be a vital part of the role.
• Experience in other eCommerce platforms (i.e., Shopify, Magento, SAP Hybris) a plus.
• Highly proficient in Google analytics (G4), Lookerstudio, Smartsheets, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Deep experience managing consumer goods within the apparel and footwear industry.
• Data driven mindset, balanced with common sense, intuition and a consumer led approach.
• Comfortable managing large sets of data and conducting ad hoc reporting.
• Experience in a project management tool such as Confluence|JIRA, Wrike, Asana.
• Excellent communication skills, highly collaborative and can lead projects.
• Can manage workload independently and prioritize tasks.
• Process driven, detail oriented, a critical thinker and problem solver.
• Highly organized and methodical in approach with a proactive, growth mindset.
• Ability to implement and learn new systems and processes with measured urgency.
• Results focused.

We just have one question. Are you in?

Hiring Range:

Incentive Potential: This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential. Specific details of the additional compensation eligibility for this position will be provided during the recruiting and interview process.

Benefits at VF Corporation: You can review a general overview of each benefit program offered, including this year's medical plan rates on www.MyVFbenefits.com  and by clicking Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process.

Please note, our hiring ranges are determined and built from market pay data. In determining the specific compensation for this position, we comply with all local, state, and federal laws.

At VF, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws.  If you are unable to submit your application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at peopleservices@vfc.com. VF will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities to the extent required by applicable law.

Pursuant to all applicable local Fair Chance Ordinance requirements, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, VF will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.