Group Business Director at JKR managing large CPG clients. Driving client advocacy and developing holistic brand strategies across multiple touchpoints.
About the role
- Director of Merchandise overseeing the Bike division at Backcountry. Strategic leadership role aimed at growing the business through market insights and cross-functional collaboration.
Responsibilities
- Drive financial performance, achieving aggressive sales, margin, and inventory turn goals across all channels and platforms.
- Develop and maintain the optimal bike assortment strategy, integrating technical expertise, industry trends, and customer insights.
- Build and nurture strategic relationships with vendors, negotiating pricing, terms, and key buys to maximize gross margin and support differentiated product stories.
- Harness advanced analytics, including AI-powered demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and consumer trend modeling to inform merchandising and financial decisions.
- Lead and mentor a high-performing merchandising team, fostering accountability, professional development, and a rigorous, results-oriented culture.
- Oversee the flow of inventory, ensuring optimal stock levels, high velocity turns, and minimal waste through predictive analytics and agile buying practices.
- Partner with Planning on annual and seasonal budgets, forecasting, and KPI reporting, leveraging AI and data science for enhanced accuracy and opportunity identification.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing and Creative, developing promotions and campaigns that drive brand engagement and capture emerging industry narratives.
- Uphold and advance category content standards, visual merchandising, and taxonomy for improved customer experience and conversion rates.
- Monitor team and category KPIs, utilizing advanced reporting platforms and AI-powered data visualization to detect trends and prescribe action plans.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree (Business, Supply Chain Management, or related field preferred); Master's degree a plus.
- 10+ years in retail buying/merchandising, with extensive e-commerce and bike industry experience.
- Demonstrated record of strategic sourcing, vendor negotiation, and assortment development in fast-paced, multi-channel environments.
- Deep analytical and presentation skills; fluency in Excel; experience with purchasing, planning, and reporting systems.
- Results-oriented leadership style with a passion for fostering high-performing, data-driven teams.
- Track record of leveraging AI, machine learning, or advanced analytics for merchandising, planning, or consumer insights.
- Outstanding communication and negotiation capability.
- Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and time management.
- Genuine enthusiasm for the cycling industry and deep understanding of key brands, trends, and consumer behavior.
- Experience or demonstrated aptitude integrating AI-powered forecasting, inventory optimization, and consumer data analytics into merchandising decisions and reporting workflows.
- Ability to identify, adopt, and champion new technologies and platforms that advance our competitive position.
- Strong understanding of how machine learning and data science can transform buy plans, assortment curation, and personalized marketing.
Benefits
- Executive Access: Work directly with brand CEOs and senior leadership, solving real business problems and earning mentorship from top operators.
- AI-First Skill Building: Get hands-on with the most advanced AI tools in the market. From automation to prompt engineering, you’ll build a modern tech stack that sets you apart in any industry.
- Accelerated Career Path: High performers are quickly entrusted with greater responsibility, new challenges, and leadership opportunities across our portfolio of brands.
- Competitive benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k)/RRSP match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts at our portfolio companies
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