Job Overview

The Director, Merchandise Finance is the financial authority for inventory investment at Bob’s Discount Furniture. This leader sets and governs the financial guardrails within which the enterprise buys, serves as the standing finance voice on the Merchandise Planning Committee (MPC), and owns the financial architecture of the open-to-buy (OTB) process. You will ensure receipt commitments are affordable, reconcile to the merchandise financial plan and corporate forecast, and are supported by a clear return on investment.

In this highly influential role, you will build the inventory investment envelope by category, establish margin, turn, weeks-of-supply, carrying-cost, and working-capital thresholds, and provide executive-level insight into inventory productivity, financial risk, and opportunity. You will partner closely with Merchandising, Merchandise Planning, Assortment Planning, Pricing, Supply Chain, IT, and senior leadership while developing the merchandise finance team.

This position is primarily remote and operates in a corporate or home-office environment, with occasional travel up to 20%. The typical schedule is Monday through Friday, with periodic extended hours during month-end close, annual planning, forecasting, and MPC cycles.

Key Skills for Success

To excel in this role, you will need to demonstrate strengths in the following skill areas:

Core Competencies & Expertise

• Retail merchandise finance expertise: deep knowledge of OTB mechanics, inventory productivity, inventory turn, GMROI, weeks of supply, carrying cost, working capital, and return on inventory investment.
• Inventory investment governance: ability to establish and manage investment envelopes, financial guardrails, approval thresholds, exception protocols, and OTB-to-P&L reconciliation.
• Margin and financial planning: strong command of initial markup, landed cost, markdowns, realized merchandise margin, annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, and monthly close analysis.
• Financial modeling and analytics: advanced Excel and driver-based modeling skills, with hands-on experience validating, transforming, and identifying patterns in large, complex data sets.
• Commercial judgment and constructive challenge: ability to assess proposed buys, quantify financial consequences, hold a financial line, and remain a trusted partner to Merchants and Planners.
• Executive influence and communication: ability to translate complex financial analysis into clear recommendations and influence senior leaders through analytical credibility.
• Cross-functional leadership: ability to align Merchandising, Planning, Pricing, Supply Chain, Finance, and technology partners around a single, traceable financial view.
• People leadership and change management: ability to develop a high-performing team, raise analytical capability, improve processes, and lead through ambiguity and transformation.
• Execution and organization: ability to move between detailed analysis and enterprise strategy while managing multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
  

Preferred Competencies & Skills

• Experience in furniture, home goods, or another big-ticket or considered-purchase retail category where inventory carrying cost and cube are material.
• Experience in an omnichannel retail environment and supporting a merchandising organization through significant transformation.
• Experience designing or significantly improving an OTB or inventory governance process.
• Familiarity with merchandise planning or OTB systems such as Blue Yonder, o9, Oracle Retail, Logility, or SAP.
• Experience with enterprise planning tools such as Anaplan, Hyperion, or similar platforms.
• Proficiency with SQL and data visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
• Experience contributing to Board-level or investor-facing presentations, with strong executive presence and the ability to lead change.
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, merchandise finance, or merchandise planning, including required retail experience.
• 3+ years of people-management experience, with demonstrated success developing talent and scaling team capability.
• Demonstrated ownership of inventory investment governance, open-to-buy, or a comparable financial control process in a retail environment.
• Experience leading cross-functional business projects and designing new or improved processes involving multiple teams and external partners.
• Proven ability to present to and influence senior and executive management.
• Ability to work calmly in a fast-paced environment while managing concurrent workstreams and deadlines.
• MBA or CPA preferred; 10+ years of experience and a combination of public- and private-company experience are also preferred.
  

Must be at least 18 years old to be considered for employment with Bob’s

Physical Demands

• Ability to sit for extended periods and work at a computer.
• Ability to operate a computer and other office equipment.
• Ability to identify, assess, and observe detail, and to see, hear, and speak regularly.
• Ability to squat, kneel, bend, and twist occasionally.
  

Expected Base Pay Not Including Potential Commissions, Incentive, Bonus, etc. Opportunities: