About Kendra Scott: 
We are a fun, talented and driven team dedicated to providing our customers with gorgeous products and a WOW! experience. Family, fashion and philanthropy are at the core of our company and though we move at a very fast pace, we are committed to maintaining a family-oriented work environment and giving back to our community. A passion for great design, dedication to innovation and a strong social media presence are our building blocks for creating a unique and engaging lifestyle brand across all channels, including retail stores, wholesale accounts and e-commerce. Our headquarters are located in the heart of Austin, Texas, and we embrace the unique vibe and energy of our hometown as an inspiration for our brand and company culture. 

Position Overview: 
The Senior Merchant is a professional member of the Merchandising team and reports to the Director of Merchandising. This is an exempt, salaried position whose primary responsibility is to develop merchandising product strategies and assortment plans, resulting in exciting and timely product assortments that will maximize sales, profits and support overall brand positioning. The Merchandiser is responsible for the success of their business and is expected to use their knowledge of current business in conjunction with the awareness of competition and their fashion intuition to direct assortments. All below responsibilities are for specific categories owned. 

Responsibilities: 
Product & Calendar Planning 
• Drive assortments, milestone dates and performance analysis of owned programs, while still maintaining holistic view of category as a whole and total company financial and brand objectives 
• Develop and recommend product assortments that will maximize sales, profits, meet customer demand and support overall brand positioning 
• Responsible for line finalization, communication and go-to-market preparation 
• Responsible for all line maintenance: assortment sheets, adds/drops and retail pricing 
• Create clear pricing structures that ties perceived value, quality and retail pricing together 
• Determine selling strategies, selling periods, product lifecycles, brand positioning and channel distribution for applicable categories and channels 
• Determine brand drivers, business goals and key products by season 
• Manage category go-to-market calendar milestone dates and partner with key CFTs to ensure deadlines and goals are met 
• Communicate and distribute all critical merchandising information to key functional areas on a timely basis 
• Support creation and presentation of applicable category feasibility studies, business plans and overall company product roadmap 
• Partner with other merchants to ensure clear execution of priorities and product alignment 

Cross Functional Partnership 
• Develop line plans and collaborate with Design to effectively combine with creative strategy to build assortments that achieve sales and brand goals 
• Partner with Planning and Allocation to influence seasonal investment and allocation strategy, ensuring big ideas and growth drivers are protected 
• Collaborate with Planning to determine promotional strategy and calendar that compliments overarching product and launch priorities 
• Proactively partner with channel and category heads to continuously understand product trends, requests, opportunities and risks within their businesses; report findings to Director and VP of Merchandising with proposed strategy and execution shifts 
• Communicate key product items and collaborate with channel heads to ensure aligned execution of ecommerce and in-store presentations and strategies 
• Ensure product initiatives and priorities are seamlessly executed in accordance to merchandising strategies 
Financial Metrics & Reporting 
• Generate and share re-occurring category reports with Merchandising team to include actionable takeaways, risks and opportunities from a trend 
• Partner with Planning team to establish financial expectations and metrics for owned categories 
• Proactively monitor and report on product and category performance to identify risks and opportunities 
• Formally hindsight product performance, communicate clear takeaways and establish actionable next steps from learnings 
• Ensure IMU% targets are met and provide creative solutions for meeting and exceeding financial goals 

Industry & Customer Expertise 
• Focus on developing customer intimacy skills through regular store visits and competitive shopping; applies findings to merchandising and execution strategies. 
• Guides assortment and launch decision making based on industry insight and customer analysis; expert of owned programs and corresponding industry landscape 
• Conducts comprehensive competitive research and analysis; present findings to applicable teams 

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have: 
• Experience and passion for fashion retail merchandising, planning and execution 
• 5+ years of experience in retail merchandising or related field required 
• 1-2+ years of experience managing an Assistant or Associate Merchant 
• Jewelry experience required 
• 4 Year College degree required; B.S Degree in Retail Merchandising preferred 
• Strong cross functional leader with proven track record of collaborating and driving results 
• Champion for product, brand and customer in all cross-functional initiatives and plans 
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, including prioritization, planning and execution 
• Strong financial acumen 
• Highly organized, detail oriented and accurate 
• Elevated communication and presentation skills; ability to influence multiple levels of company