Merchandiser (Fixed Term Contract) - Home Hardgoods/Textiles)

Fixed Term

The Merchandiser provides expertise on all aspects of the Inda Sourcing for Home Hardgoods and Textiles product categories and is a strategic partner to our United States-Based Merchant and Product Sourcing teams. This role will identify, build, and foster strong relationships with new factories and suppliers to drive our product strategy. This person will come with a strong existing network of suppliers and proven ability to build, develop and execute product vision.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Driving sourcing strategy focused on building a strong vendor base to support the merchandising strategies.
• Sources new suppliers to fulfill identified sourcing needs or opportunities
• Grow/Maintain relationships with suppliers, factories, mills that could be potential partners for Ross
• Develop options to address specific merchandising needs and priorities.
• Provide perspective on sourcing and industry trends and potential risks.
• Collect and share current information on trends in raw materials, manufacturing, and product-specific intelligence (e.g., trending vendors, silhouettes, fabrications)
• Identify capacity and country issues in region which could create market disruption, increase risk, or drive cost increases
• Proactively identifies product newness while in the factory.
• Drives key partnerships & relationships with apparel resources that could provide regular access to Closeouts of both finished goods and raw materials
• Identify potential closeout buys within existing factories.
• Leads multiscale negotiations, cost, lead times, and minimum order quantities.
• Ability to cost engineer product across multiple categories that meets the Ross and dd’s customer value proposition
• Oversees new supplier set- up and onboarding, according to Ross’ standard procedures
• Owns relationships with critical business partners both internally and externally to create long term plans aimed at giving Ross a competitive advantage
• Drives strategies aimed at evolving the business and determines what KPIs to track for its success.
• Ensures metrics on Development, Adoption Rate, Manufacturing KPIs meet the needs of the business
• Maintains Vendor Scorecard

QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIAL SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree or commensurate required.
• 8-10 years’ experience in Merchandising and Sourcing for US or European retailers.
• Strong existing supplier network.
• Proven expertise in product development, production, quality, materials, and machinery.
• Deep expertise in home hardgoods required. Additional home textiles knowledge preferred.
• Able to travel weekly for 2-4 days per visit to various regions across india.