Director, Girl Scout Merchandise
: Job Details :

Director, Girl Scout MerchandiseJob LocationsUS-NY-New YorkJob ID2024-2093# of Openings1CategoryRevenue/MerchandisingAbout Us

Girl Scouts of the USA

Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls and the leading authority on their healthy development. Millions of Girl Scout alums across the country and the world have gone on to achieve incredible things and make a tremendous impact in fields ranging from public policy, medicine, journalism, and athletics to international relations, science, technology, art, and entertainment.

As a mission-driven organization, Girl Scouts of the USA champions girls as they explore their worlds, try new things, and develop the courage, confidence, and character to make the world a better place. From stargazing during a first overnight camping trip to building robots, navigating a rocky hiking trail, working together on a community project, and learning about the importance of environmental stewardship, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can unapologetically be themselves as they rise to meet new challenges and discover the issues that matter most to them. Along the way they learn the power of friendship, connection, and teamwork.

Girl Scouts are doers, innovators, problem-solvers, creators, and dreamers, and the GSUSA team is here to center, support, and inspire them, working with 111 local councils across the country and USA Girl Scouts Overseas to deliver our life-changing Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Essential Responsibilities

The Revenue Office/Girl Scout Merchandise leads merchandising, licensing, product sales, and other revenue streams, which in turn fund both Girl Scouts of the USA programming and administration and local council revenue. The teams at this division include e-commerce, operations, retail, licensing, and the famous Girl Scout Cookie Program and work closely with all the other communities to bring products to market for our Girl Scouts and to the public. The team also collaborates closely with external vendors, sponsors, and external agencies.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director, Girl Scout Merchandise is responsible for leading the implementation of the merchandising strategy, with a focus on the development, buying, and production of merchandise for resale through Girl Scout Merchandise channels to support the organization's revenue objectives. This role directly manages the sourcing strategy for Girl Scout's mission critical categories including badges and uniforms, while also overseeing other hardline and softline categories. The Director must work collaboratively with key departments to ensure alignment with the organization's overall strategy regarding merchandise.

This position requires strong leadership, vision, and innovation, as well as the ability to guide the buying team to achieve strategic and revenue goals while adhering to established policies, procedures, and financial controls. The ideal candidate must be a self-motivated professional, capable of independently driving initiatives and maintaining momentum. This includes taking proactive ownership of responsibilities and anticipating challenges to deliver results.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES - Primary duties of the position

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Develop and implement a data-driven merchandising strategy that aligns with revenue and growth targets, ensuring product assortments meet customer demand and drive profitability.
• Create and lead seasonal merchandise plans to support key strategic initiatives, product launches, top sellers, seasonal campaigns, and market trends for wholesale and e-commerce
• Own the product development lifecycle, including the time and action calendar, ensuring alignment on key milestones such as seasonal kickoffs, design approvals, purchase order approvals, and INDC dates.
• Collaborate with vendor partners to design compelling assortments that appeal to our target customer base and meet margin targets
• Oversee vendor management to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards, codes of conduct, sustainability goals, and vendor performance requirements
• Analyze and present business performance data, offering actionable insights to guide both short-term and long-term strategies
• Work with the Inventory Manager to optimize inventory levels through effective forecasting, replenishment, and markdown strategies
• Communicate product strategies and foster alignment across cross-functional teams, including e-commerce, sales, creative and marketing
• Partner with e-commerce team to plan promotional strategies that drive revenue and customer engagement while maintaining profitability
• Identify new opportunities for product innovation by staying abreast of industry trend and adapting for Girl Scout customers
• Collaborate closely with the Girl Scout Program team to ensure that merchandise aligns with & supports program goals and priorities
• Provide support to the Senior Director and SVP for Program and Membership initiatives like the Girl Scout Experience Box
• Supervise and direct team members in accordance with GSUSA's personnel policies and operating procedures

Offer strategic leadership, and mentorship to the merchandising team, implementing retail industry standard processes, in addition to fostering a culture of innovation, consumer focus, and continuous improvement

Other Duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Strong people leaders, leading major sub-communities or major initiatives projects that have substantial long-term implication for the organization/movement. Strong fiscal responsibility.

• Proven merchandising expertise and analytical skills, with a strong focus on retail math and P&L responsibility, capable of taking initiative and ensuring cost-effective outcomes
• Excellent negotiation skills, with a proven ability to cultivate and maintain strong vendor partnerships
• In-depth understanding of inventory management, with proficiency in data analysis and trend forecasting to make informed inventory decisions
• Outstanding verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to work effectively on cross functional teams and foster collaboration across departments
• High level of integrity, enthusiasm and sound judgment in decision-making
• Strong commitment to delivering exceptional customer service

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS

Office 365 or similar suites

Competency in PowerPoint or similar presentation software

Competency in Microsoft Excel or similar software

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (i.e., degrees, certifications)

Degree or Equivalent Experience:

Bachelor's degree or relevant experience

Minimum Years of Experience: Minimum of 10 years' experience in corporate environment

Minimum 8 years' experience managing a Merchandising and Buying department

SALARY RANGE: $110,000 - $130,000

This represents the present low and high end of the pay range for this position. This pay range is only applicable to NYC Metro-based employees, on a hybrid schedule. Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

What We Offer:

Girl Scouts is powered by people, and we encourage our team members to be their best selves in and out of the office. We place a high priority on flexibility and offer a competitive employee salary and benefits package that includes:

Paid Time Off:

GSUSA offers 20+ days of paid time off, 2 floating holidays, as well as 9 workplace holidays per year. GSUSA staff also enjoy a paid holiday year-end office closure between Christmas and New Year's.

Other Benefits:

• Medical and Behavioral Health Coverage
  • Plan options with individual and family coverage which includes wellness, hospitalization, and fertility assistance.
  • Both plans include GSUSA partial subsidy of premium costs
  • Dental and vision coverage

• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) including Health, Dependent Care, and Limited FSA for those with Health Savings Accounts
• Company-paid life insurance
• Flexible work arrangements
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• 401(K) with company match
• Sick leave
• Short- and Long-Term Disability for salary continuation
• Health and Wellness Classes and Activities throughout the year
• Access to Employee Engagement Groups

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job operates in a professional office environment.

POSITION TYPE: This is a full-time position.

AAP/EEO Statement: GSUSA is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Travel Requirementsup to 15%