Manager Visual Merchandising

Discover greater levels of performance. With over 1,400 stores throughout the U.S., Ulta Beauty is revolutionizing the beauty retail experience. With new stores coming online on a continual basis and the re-engineering of existing locations with the latest design and technological advancements for heightened guest experiences, we’re not just growing, we’re thriving. Through consistent innovation and a bold commitment to reimagination. If you want the opportunity to build something strategic, to take ownership of your career trajectory, to apply your passion to operational excellence, Ulta Beauty provides the kind of stability and support few organizations can match. So be curious. Be flexible. Be more than you thought possible. The future is yours at Ulta Beauty.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE 

This role is responsible for developing and activating the holistic visual merchandising strategies for all Ulta Beauty categories, primarily focused on branded fixture display development. Acting as the voice of the store experience for this category, this role will act as the strategic partner to Merchants and Brand partners to translate business and brand strategies into fully integrated visual merchandising programs. Key focus will be upon creating a consistent signature for the department that clearly relates to the overall store’s experience standards, ensuring that all visual presentations fully synthesize the optimal combination of product presentation, graphic communication, guest desirability, and ease of shopping. The role will partner closely with Creative, Merchants, planogramming teams, retail operations teams, and store design to ensure concepts are taken from development into production and store-level execution.

YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS BY:

1. Develop department-wide visual merchandising approaches that optimally manifest the strategies for all Ulta Beauty categories.
2. Manage a team of visual merchandising analysts in their development of visual programs, seamlessly merging planograms with fixturing and graphic elements and maintaining a holistic guest experience across the department.
3. Partner closely with Merchants and Space Planning teams to translate business and brand strategies into consistent and compelling visual merchandising strategies.
4. Partner with Ulta Beauty Collection to develop best in class visual merchandising expressions for our namesake brand.
5. Work in partnership with Store Design & Experience to document project development and manage timeliness from brief through store execution.
6. Oversee the branded fixture development for all beauty categories, providing compelling individual presentations for each brand while preserving the consistency of guest experience and overall visual presentation standards.
7. Integrate transition planning into the overall departmental vision, collaborating with merchants, creative operations and brands to ensure execution consistent with Ulta and brand objectives.
8. Develop visual merchandising directives for stores that clearly convey visual merchandising objectives, ensure consistency of execution, and anticipate crucial details required by store teams to bring visual programs to life as envisioned.
9. Maintain a high-level awareness of upcoming strategies and beauty trend knowledge to anticipate required design development.

THE ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS 

• Minimum 8 years of experience within corporate visual merchandising organizations or design focused retail design houses, optimally complimented with in-store working experience.

• Proficiency in visual merchandising, product merchandising, and in-store implementation.

• Undergraduate degree in relevant fields (Marketing, Design, Visual Merchandising, Project Management) and/or equivalent field experience focused on visual merchandising is an advantage.

• Depth of experience with the interconnection between store fixtures, graphic communication, product merchandising and store operations.
• Ability to work through prototypes and sample store set-ups in mock store environments and to work with suppliers on production requirements.
• Ability to lead and influence diverse partners to scope projects, lead change management, and build comprehensive programs for launches and updates.
• Strong written and oral communication skills to convey project concepts, statuses and presentation standards to a variety of partners.
• Fluency in software programs as required to visualize and communicate concepts, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Monday.com and project management tools.
• Minimum 3+ years of experience managing and developing teams in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
• Proven ability to lead, coach, and hold teams accountable while fostering a collaborative and empowered team culture.
• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities, create structure, and drive solutions in complex environments.
• Experience building and maintaining relationships with brands and vendors, including navigating challenging dynamics.

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At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. We bring possibilities to life through the power of beauty each and every day in our stores and online with more than 25,000 products from approximately 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring—hair, skin, brow, and make-up services.

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest records, conviction records, or other criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of any applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.