Overview:

The Merchandising & Product Development Senior Manager is responsible for leading merchandising and product development strategies across assigned categories, brands, and customer accounts, with a focus on creating compelling, consumer-driven assortments that deliver revenue growth, margin expansion, and long-term business value. This role manages the full product development lifecycle from concept and design through costing, sourcing, packaging, commercialization, and launch, ensuring products meet customer expectations, brand standards, pricing targets, and profitability objectives.

The Senior Manager serves as a key commercial and product leader within the Merchandising organization, translating customer, consumer, and market insights into actionable product strategies and assortments. This position works closely with Sales, Planning, Product Development, Sourcing, Marketing, Creative, Digital, Manufacturing, Quality, Purchasing, and overseas sourcing offices to bring differentiated products to market efficiently and successfully.

This role also serves as a central voice of the customer and consumer, helping shape product decisions, assortment strategies, pricing architecture, and future growth opportunities. The ideal candidate combines strong merchandising instincts, product development expertise, analytical capability, commercial acumen, and cross-functional leadership.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: (Includes the following, other duties may be assigned)

Primary Responsiblities:

• Develop and execute consumer-focused merchandising and product development strategies for assigned categories, brands, and customer accounts.
• Create differentiated product assortments and new product concepts that align with consumer preferences, customer requirements, brand positioning, channel strategies, and Company financial objectives.
• Manage the full product lifecycle from initial concept and product brief through design, sourcing, costing, sampling, packaging, commercialization, launch, and in-line product management.
• Partner with Merchandising leadership and Sales teams to establish appropriate product assortments, price points, margin targets, and category strategies that support profitable revenue growth.
• Identify assortment gaps, white-space opportunities, emerging consumer needs, competitive threats, and category expansion opportunities.
• Develop product briefs, assortment recommendations, and strategic presentations for Sales, Marketing, eCommerce, and leadership teams.
• Present product concepts, assortment strategies, and growth opportunities to internal stakeholders and retail customers as needed.
• Serve as a key voice of the customer and consumer, incorporating account requirements, market trends, competitive intelligence, and shopper insights into merchandising decisions.
• Balance the objectives and requirements of multiple brands, retail accounts, sales channels, and internal stakeholders when developing product strategies and recommendations.
• Leverage sales, margin, inventory, productivity, pricing, and market data in partnership with Sales and Business Planning teams to inform assortment and product decisions.
• Analyze product performance and recommend assortment changes, product extensions, pricing adjustments, or discontinuations based on business results.
• Partner with global sourcing offices, suppliers, Manufacturing, and Quality teams to manage product specifications, materials, construction, sample development, production feasibility, and costing accuracy.
• Work with Sourcing, Manufacturing, and Quality teams to identify and resolve product development, quality, material, production, and supply challenges.
• Manage product costing throughout the development lifecycle and make recommendations to achieve target retail prices and margin objectives.
• Conduct in-line product adjustments, including re-costing, material substitutions, or product redevelopment, in response to cost fluctuations, supply constraints, or changing customer requirements.
• Coordinate the development and approval of new product components, materials, trims, packaging, and related specifications from inception through finished product.
• Develop and maintain accurate customer specification guides, product documentation, costing records, and product information.
• Oversee packaging concept development, review, approval, and implementation in partnership with Marketing, Creative, Sales, Sourcing, and customer teams.
• Initiate and coordinate internal item setup activities to support successful product commercialization and customer launches.
• Organize, review, label, track, and coordinate shipment of product samples to merchants, buyers, internal teams, and other stakeholders.
• Partner with Sales teams to support retailer meetings, line reviews, product presentations, and customer ideation sessions.
• Support Sales in developing innovative product solutions and actionable recommendations tailored to customer needs and category opportunities.
• Attend customer meetings and presentations as requested to provide product, merchandising, and category expertise.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Creative teams to define photography, imagery, packaging, copy, and other content requirements needed to support product presentations and launches.
• Respond to internal and external requests for detailed product, assortment, costing, project, and commercialization information.
• Serve as a liaison among Marketing, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Quality, Sourcing, Planning, Sales, and other functional teams to ensure effective execution of product strategies.
• Maintain clear communication of product development timelines, priorities, decisions, risks, and deliverables across cross-functional teams.
• Identify potential product development or commercialization risks and proactively recommend solutions to maintain timelines, margins, and customer commitments.
• Partner with the Senior Director to improve retail quoting, product development, commercialization, and merchandising processes.
• Identify opportunities to improve tools, workflows, reporting, documentation, and cross-functional communication.
• Mentor and provide functional guidance to Merchandising and Product Development team members as assigned.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

Education And/or Experience:To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Merchandising, Product Development, Textile Science, Fashion Merchandising, Design, or a related field.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in merchandising, product development, buying, category management, sourcing, or a related consumer products function.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience leading, managing, mentoring, or developing employees or cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing product assortments from concept through commercialization and launch.
• Proven experience developing merchandising strategies, product assortments, pricing architecture, and margin plans that support profitable sales growth.
• Strong knowledge of product development processes, including product briefs, specifications, costing, sampling, packaging, sourcing, and commercialization.
• Experience working directly with overseas sourcing offices, suppliers, manufacturers, or global product development partners.
• Demonstrated ability to use sales, margin, inventory, productivity, and market data to make informed product and assortment decisions.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance customer requirements, consumer needs, pricing objectives, margin targets, and operational considerations.
• Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple complex products, accounts, deadlines, and priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills with demonstrated experience partnering with Sales, Marketing, Planning, Sourcing, Manufacturing, Quality, and Creative teams.
• Strong presentation, communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively influence internal and external stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and Teams.
• Experience working with ERP, product lifecycle management, product information management, or related business systems.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, adaptable, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ten (10) or more years of merchandising, product development, buying, sourcing, or category management experience within home textiles, bedding, home furnishings, soft goods, or consumer products.
• Five (5) or more years of people leadership experience with demonstrated success developing high-performing merchandising or product development teams.
• Experience supporting major national retailers, eCommerce customers, specialty retailers, club accounts, department stores, or mass-market customers.
• Experience developing private-label, branded, licensed, or retailer-exclusive product assortments.
• Strong knowledge of bedding, bath, home textile, or related soft-home product categories, including materials, construction, manufacturing methods, and consumer trends.
• Experience managing product programs across multiple brands, channels, customer segments, and price tiers.
• Advanced experience with product costing, margin analysis, retail pricing, and value engineering.
• Experience with NetSuite or comparable ERP systems.
• Experience utilizing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Product Information Management (PIM), or related product development systems.
• Experience improving retail quoting, commercialization, product development, or sourcing processes.
• Demonstrated success identifying white-space opportunities and developing new products or assortments that generate incremental revenue and margin.
• Strong understanding of omnichannel merchandising, digital commerce requirements, product content, and consumer shopping behavior.