Merchandise Development Specialist

Get to know the role

• Job Title: Merchandise Development Specialist
• Job Summary: This role provides creative direction, brand context, and data-informed insight to guide product development. The Merchandise Development Specialist partners cross-functionally to shape product storytelling, brand integration, and category growth. Supporting a specific category (Home, Office, and Outdoors), this role developed product and graphic design briefs, defines new opportunities, guides quality, and ensures final assortments meet or exceed customer expectations. Strong product development experience, brand fluency, critical thinking, communication, and relationship-building skills are essential, along with strong communication with the ability to present product concepts to diverse stakeholders. This specialist role brings forward innovative ideas, improves processes, navigates both established product and R&D opportunities, and acts as a subject matter expert within a category.
• FLSA Classification (US Only): Exempt
• People Manager: No

What you’ll do

• Product Direction, Planning & Execution 
  • Own category or subcategory coherence, ensuring alignment with brand standards, customer expectations, and category goals, supported by data-informed reasoning. 
  • Make informed decisions within scope, including in ambiguous situations, and escalate higher-risk or strategic issues. 
  • Translate strategy into actionable, visually compelling briefs for internal teams. 
  • Guide product direction across both established lines and R&D opportunities using brand knowledge and market awareness. 
  • Own timelines, readiness, and quality for assigned product work, aligning deliverables with priorities and business goals. 
  • Independently manage 3–5 product sets, maintaining clarity and momentum across cross‑functional teams (Production, Project Management, Clients, Approvals). 
• Brand Integration & Creative Guidance 
  • Apply brand understanding to ensure product and the art on the product delivers clear, compelling storytelling and emotional connection for fans of all kinds. 
  • Provide product and graphic design creative direction in partnership with Designers, aligning on intent, tone, and execution. 
  • Evaluate creative output against brand standards and customer expectations; challenge and course‑correct as needed. 
  • Translate brand strategy and franchise moments into clear creative direction across category initiatives. 
• Concept Development & Presentations 
  • Lead concept development across subcategories, delivering 3–6 concepts per product set, plus additional contributions to broader assortments. 
  • Develop and present multiple options, clearly outlining trade‑offs, risks, and opportunities with data-backed reasoning. 
  • Recommend a preferred direction supported by brand, customer, and business insights. 
  • Create clear, visual, and persuasive presentations connecting concepts to strategy and objectives. 
  • Provide constructive feedback to strengthen peer concepts and presentations. 
• Quality & Product Excellence 
  • Evaluate product and execution against quality standards, market samples, category goals, and customer expectations. 
  • Collect and apply data-informed insights through analysis of customer behavior, performance metrics, and market trends to guide product development. 
  • Identify risks or gaps throughout the product development process and recommend corrective actions without owning execution. 
  • Partner with management, clients, and Production to resolve issues and escalate when needed. 
• Process Improvement & Team Elevation 
  • Identify and recommend improvements to tools, workflows, and ways of working. 
  • Pilot process improvements within owned areas and partner with leadership for broader adoption. 
  • Share best practices and insights to improve team consistency and effectiveness. 
  • Provide informal mentorship through guidance and feedback. 
  • Model strong problem‑solving and challenge existing approaches constructively. 
  • Support leadership initiatives with expertise and execution. 

What you’ll bring

• Five (5) to seven (7) years of experience in merchandise and graphic design development for consumer products such as apparel, accessories, home, office, or event-based merchandise. 
• Advanced conceptual and practical knowledge of the product creation process, from early concept through readiness for production.
• Deep experience planning product cycles and contributing to merchandise strategies aligned to brand, customer, and business objectives.
• Proven ability to work effectively across both established product lines and new (R&D) product development.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and related tools; experience working in product line management software preferred. Some proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite on macOS to support concept development and collaboration.
• Full proficiency in understanding product design constraints within a focused category, with the ability to navigate new product challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to propose solutions, improve processes, and work through ambiguity effectively.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to build persuasive presentations and influence stakeholders.
• Ability to mentor peers informally and contribute to team development and quality elevation. 

Base Salary Range: For this role, new hires generally start between $95,000.00 - $127,000.00 per year. The full range is $95,000.00 - $172,000.00 per year. This range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. The final base salary is directly related to the candidate’s qualifications and professional experience uniquely.

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