Merchandising Category Manager

Stuller's Merchandising division is made up of a dynamic team of subject matter experts in each jewelry product category. These specialized teams focus on developing and buying products, managing inventory levels and pricing, working with marketing to execute promotions and publications, and so much more! The Category Manager develops and executes merchandise buying and planning strategies that drive profitable sales growth, strengthen assortment relevance, and optimize inventory investment for one of the jewelry industry's largest suppliers. Managing assigned merchandise categories, this associate translates customer insights, market trends, and business performance into actionable category plans, purchasing recommendations, and product lifecycle decisions. Responsibilities include assortment architecture, demand forecasting, vendor negotiations, pricing, replenishment, inventory productivity and launch strategies. This role partners cross-functionally with product development, purchasing, supply chain, sales, and marketing to deliver the right products, at the right price and inventory levels, at the right time to meet customer needs and business objectives. Key Responsibilities Develop and execute merchandise plans that align sales, gross margin, purchasing, inventory, and category objectives; manage products from introduction and replenishment through markdown and exit. Build assortment plans that define breadth, depth, price points, and the balance of core and trend merchandise; partner with product development to translate customer needs, market trends, and assortment gaps into relevant product offerings. Analyze customer purchasing patterns, competitive assortments, market conditions, and category trends to identify opportunities, validate buying decisions, and inform assortment, pricing, and promotional strategies. Identify and evaluate vendor opportunities; support negotiations related to product costs, minimum order quantities, lead times, and purchasing terms while balancing margin, quality, supply reliability, and inventory exposure. Partner with marketing, sales, product development, purchasing, and supply chain to align launch calendars, promotional plans, initial buy quantities, inventory readiness, and post-launch performance evaluation. Apply strong project management, organization, and communication skills to coordinate timelines, manage competing priorities, track deliverables, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners. Guide merchandise selection and pagination for seasonal brochures, catalogs, publications, and other marketing materials; coordinate pricing accuracy, product copy, artwork review, and completion of deliverables with marketing partners. Use reporting tools to monitor sales, gross margin, sell-through, inventory turns, weeks of supply, stock availability, and GMROI; translate business performance into buying, pricing, inventory, and assortment actions. Maintain current assortment data by ensuring product information, specifications, pricing, status, inventory attributes, and related category details are accurate, complete, and up to date across applicable systems and customer-facing materials. Develop pricing, promotional, demand forecasting, purchasing, and replenishment recommendations that support customer value, competitive positioning, inventory productivity, service objectives, and gross margin goals. Basic Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience is acceptable. Ability to analyze sales, margin, inventory, customer, and market data to support category decisions. Strong project management, organization, and follow-through skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate cross-functionally. Intermediate to advanced level proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.