The Role + Purpose:The Senior Director of Merchandising owns the product strategy and financial performance of a defined set of categories within J.Crew Women's Apparel. Reporting to the VP, Women's Merchandising you will partner with Design, Planning, Sourcing, and Marketing to turn brand vision into commercially sound assortments: the right product, at the right price, at the right time. You will lead and develop a team of merchandisers and serve as the strategic voice for your categories across the business.
- Own sales, margin, and inventory productivity for your categories, and be accountable for delivering plan.
- Set seasonal and annual category strategy that ladders to brand priorities, and partner with Planning and Allocation on investment by channel and region to protect the biggest growth drivers.
- Build assortments with clear architecture (defined roles for each product, balanced across newness, core, and price tiers) and deliver a single, efficient global assortment plan to Design.
- Partner with Design from concept through final assortment, and work with Sourcing on fabric, color, and print platforms, to deliver product that is on-brand, differentiated, and commercially viable.
- Define price and value positioning using competitive and customer insight, and run structured post-season analysis that turns what worked and what didn't into next-season decisions.
- Align Design, Planning, Sourcing, Marketing, and Visual Merchandising around a shared product story and investment plan, ensuring marketing support follows merchandise investment.
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of direct and indirect reports, building a culture of accountability, curiosity, and speed.
Qualifications:Required:
- 10+ years of experience in merchandising or buying in Women's apparel or accessories, including 3 years leading teams.
- Track record of owning category financials and improving sales and margin outcomes.
- Strong analytical skills and comfort using data (sell-through, markdown, and productivity metrics) to drive decisions.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior partners across Design, Planning, and Marketing without relying on authority, in a fast-moving matrix environment.
- Proven ability to build and develop high-performing teams and identify future leaders.
- Clear, confident communicator who can present strategy to executives.
- Experience in specialty retail, DTC, or omni-channel environments.
Preferred:
- Bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising, Business, or a related field is a plus, but not required.
We welcome you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes. Our passion is scouting life-long learners who are driven by curiosity, and who feel connected to our brands and share our desire to make an impact. We're always seeking bright new talent who leverage their unique experiences to discover, grow and evolve with our teams.
Benefits + Perks- Health & Well-being - Eligible associates and family members receive medical, dental, prescription and vision insurance, family planning (fertility, adoption & surrogacy support), fitness discounts, medical travel and more.
- Associate Discount - We love our products just as much as you do! That's why we offer a great associate discount across all of our brands (J.Crew, J.Crew Factory, and Madewell).
- Summer Fridays - In addition to our hybrid work model, we also close our office at 1:00 PM every Friday during the Summer months.
- Community Impact - We support the communities where we live and work through our philanthropic efforts and the J.Crew Cares Program.
- Winter Break - In addition to our PTO package, J.Crew Group offers a winter break at the end of December to eligible full-time associates at the Home Office to provide time to refresh and recharge.
Note: Availability of these benefits and perks may be subject to work location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements.
Salary Range: $152,800.00 - $201,400.00
At J.Crew Group (JCG) we aim to pay competitively for our company's size and industry. The base salary offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region of work premises, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. The base salary is just one component of J.Crew Group's competitive total rewards strategy that also includes the opportunity for bonus, competitive benefits and perks.
