The Pokémon Company International

Merchandise Development Specialist

The Pokémon Company International • $95K — $172K *
Bellevue, WA 98006In-Person
Retail & Consumer Goods
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in merchandise and graphic design development for consumer products.
  • Advanced knowledge of the product creation process from concept to production.
  • Experience planning product cycles aligned with brand and customer objectives.
  • Ability to work on both established product lines and new R&D product development.
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office and product line management software; some experience with Adobe Creative Suite.
  • Strong communication skills to build persuasive presentations and influence stakeholders.
  • Capability to mentor peers and contribute to team development.

Responsibilities

  • Own and ensure coherence within assigned product categories, aligned with brand and customer expectations.
  • Make informed and strategic decisions, escalating when necessary to senior management.
  • Translate and communicate brand strategy into actionable and clear design briefs.
  • Guide product direction using strong brand knowledge and market awareness.
  • Manage timelines and product quality for deliverables in alignment with business goals.
  • Lead concept development and present compelling options to stakeholders, outlining trade-offs.
  • Evaluate product execution against standards and use data insights to support development.

Benefits

  • 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for employees.
  • Generous paid family leave policy.
  • Employer-paid life insurance and income protection insurance.
  • 401k Employer Matching for US employees, with pension contributions for UK/IRE/MX employees.
  • Fitness reimbursement and commuter benefits.
  • Ongoing learning opportunities through LinkedIn Learning.
  • Comprehensive relocation package available for certain roles.
Full Job Description
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.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-JL1

How you'll be successful
  • Passion for Pokémon: Develops an understanding of the Pokémon brand, the impact it has on our people, culture, business, fans, and communities, and applying that knowledge and passion to everything you do.
  • Challenging the Expected: Approaches challenges with curiosity and creativity, embracing the possibility of failure as an opportunity to learn something new, develop innovative ideas, solve complex problems and identify unique opportunities.
  • Integrity and Respect: Demonstrates integrity and respect by leading with empathy, listening to others, seeking out different perspectives, and taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and results.
  • Dedicated to Quality: Takes ownership to maintain and promote high standards, looks for new ways to learn and improve, and embraces a growth mindset to seek and apply feedback from others in an effort to continuously improve.
  • Building Relationships: Develops and strengthens relationships, adopting a "team first" mentality and working collaboratively to solve problems and meet shared goals.
  • Delighting Customers: Listens and understands the interests and needs of our customers and stakeholders, making them feel heard and important, and embracing these learnings to continue delivering a unique Pokémon experience.


What to expect
  • An innovative culture driven by impact, delivering meaningful outcomes.
  • Company events that celebrate the spirit of Pokémon.
  • Competitive cash-based compensation programs.
  • 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for you.
  • Generous paid family leave.
  • Employer-paid life insurance.
  • Employer-paid long and short-term income protection insurance.
  • US Employees: 401k Employer Matching.
  • UK/IRE/MX Employees: Pension Employer Contributions.
  • Fitness reimbursement.
  • Commuter benefit.
  • LinkedIn learning.
  • Comprehensive relocation package for certain roles.
  • Hybrid work environment.

About The Pokémon Company International

The Pokémon Company is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the Pokémon franchise, which consists of video game software, a trading card game, anime television series, films, manga, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. It was established through a joint investment by the three companies holding the copyright of Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. It began operating in 1998 and adopted the moniker Pokémon Ltd. in October 2000. The company is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. The company has separate subsidiaries that handle operations in different parts of the world, with the Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside Asia and being responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website on the territories outside Asia. The Pokémon Company also handles publishing of all Pokémon video games since 2001 alongside Nintendo. The Pokémon Company is mostly responsible for marketing and funding, while Nintendo handles distribution of the titles in Japan and outside it. Both companies work together in localization, production, QA, and other aspects. The company is solely responsible for publishing and licensing mobile Pokémon titles, unlike console titles where it has help from Nintendo.
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