Senior, Visual Merchandising Marketing LA

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $77,700.00 in our lowest geographic market to $174,000.00 in our highest geographic market. Actual salary will vary based on a candidate's location, qualifications, skills and experience.

Information about benefits can be found here.

The Visual Merchandising & Styling (VMS) function is responsible for creating inspiring, premium and elevated consumer experiences and presentations for the Nike brand across the North America geography. The VMS team works collaboratively across brand and business partners to develop product journeys, presentation strategies, styling direction as well as playbooks & training modules that create a distinct point of view for the brand at retail. This team also works directly with business, operations and design functions to develop, drive and scale new concepts / retail expansion for the Nike brand across the marketplace. The VMS team’s success is amplified by a connected network of world class talent across WHQ, territories, key cities & in-store. 

The ideal candidate will have strong leadership skills, a proven track record developing and executing Retail Brand marketing initiatives, and a passion for obsessing the consumer – who they are, how they behave, what their needs are, and how we, as Nike, can best serve them! This role lives and breathes at the unique intersection of art and science – It’s as much about being able to successfully translate complex data/insights, as it is using incredible brand smarts and intuition to uncover inspiring storytelling, create and drive a great brief, and ultimately, create amazing connections with consumers. We are driving transformation; the ideal candidate will thrive in ambiguity and be excited to help create the future.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for curious, driven and passionate individuals who love retail and understand the power of well thought out and executed in store presentations. This role plays an integral part in ensuring the brand priorities and presentation strategies & standards are implemented consistently across the marketplace. This candidate needs to be able to think strategically through both brand and business lenses and translate WHQ direction in a compelling way to inspire city & store teams and to ensure flawless execution. We are looking for someone who is a proven people leader, has strong communication and influencing skills and is results & solution oriented. As the Visual Merchandising Lead you must be connected to the retail marketplace to understand consumer, marketplace, and retail trends and insights to ensure you deliver the right message. 

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

A typical week consists of regular store visits and connections with North America Visual Merchandisign team and store teams to ensure consumer experiences are well executed/adapted, aligned with brand expectations/standards and drive expected financial and productivity results. Ongoing deployment of VMS training to maintaine standards and guide on sell through / inventory opportunities. You will work closely with WHQ VMS partners to share feedback and best practices related to what’s working/not working and define opportunities for future seasons. Additionally, you will work closely with a cross-functional team of brand and business partners on the mapping, opening and sustaining of doors across your territory.

You will be responsible for understanding both the art and science of marketing; obsessing the NYC Consumer journey in store, and the creative ways we tell our product stories in store. As the city Visual Merchandising expert, you will partner closely with the store’s marketing concept teams to assist in building the holistic seasonal brand plan across concepts and ensure that LA  consumer is accurately represented. You will partner with the Geo, your NYC Nike Direct Stores Marketing Counterpart, and Consumer X Fields of Play marketing teams to set, adopt and enrich seasonal Retail Brand strategies that define the vision for product presentation, communication, and consumer experience in North America. 

• Capture and share the seasonal VMS priorities and expectations during seasonal kick-offs to city VMS store teams, cross-functional partners, territory and Geo partners.
• Elevate key product stories that drive sales and deliver metrics, and execute our key category initiatives.  
• Influence and guide a team of in-store visual specialists/managers, setting store VM goals that link to overall brand and business priorities. This will entail leveraging & driving seasonal training strategies, coaching, and delivering clear communication recaps/next steps. 
• Pre-season zoning, mapping and development of presentation strategies.
• Develop and foster strong and collaborative relationships with RDDs and field leadership, Retail Brand Presentation team, Geo VMS, and other cross-functional business partners.
• Review territory execution to ensure Visual Merchandising & Styling standards are met and consistent.
• Drive visual merchandising excellence and deliver operational excellence
• Build and foster an environment of collaboration, innovation, and growth
• Proactively partner to capture & apply consumer-first, data-driven retail insights.
• Support on physical builds that help drive cross-functional alignment.
• Deep partnership with Retail Brand team in the development of seasonal plans.
• Collaboration with Merchandising on seasonal assortments and key looks.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

In this role you will be working with a diverse set of teams and individuals across multiple brand and business functions including the store team and WHQ organizations. This role reports directly in to the LA Retail Marketing Director but is expected to build and sustain strong and collaborative working relationships with RDDs, Retail Brand Presentation, Retail marketing, Brand Management, Merchandising & OPS in order to ensure flawless execution in the city. You will also work closely with Geo and Global VMS functions to build a strong flow of communication to continually improve tools & direction developed by the geography and to inform the team of relevant marketplace learnings and competitive trends

WHAT YOU BRING

• Possess a clear passion for the art and science of visual merchandising & styling. 
• Passion for team leadership, people development and coaching & mentoring a diverse team and talent levels.
• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Design, Fashion or related field or extensive experience in Visual Merchandising in lieu of a degree.
• 5+ years of experience in retail marketing, visual merchandising, product merchandising or directly related experience.
• Extensive visual background with previous experience in a retail environment.
• Demonstrated experience creating engaging and inspiring in-store displays. Footwear & apparel experience is preferred.
• Ability to create unique presentation solutions for various retail environments that inspire the consumer, drive sales and align with the Nike brand voice. 
• Knowledge of current retail landscape and the latest trends and innovations for retail. 
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills. Influencing & Negotiating skills preferred.
• Agile, flexible, and creative thinker, self-motivated, and have a strong passion for making things happen
• A team player with excellent communication and organizational skills and able to work within complex company matrix
• Have good judgement and able to stand up to the challenges from your leaders and peers
• An impeccable ability for balancing creativity with business needs, inspired by the "now and next" and keeping the consumer at the center of the work.
• Confident presentation and computer skills with command of Outlook calendar, Excel, PowerPoint and Keynote, Mac proficiency strongly preferred.

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment for all employees and job applicants. We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed. If you discover, as you navigate our application process, that you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Candidate Accommodation Request Form.