Global Merchant (Temporary Assignment)

Description & Requirements
who we are
lululemon is an innovative performance apparel company for yoga, running, training, and other athletic pursuits. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional design, we create transformational products and experiences that support people in moving, growing, connecting, and being well. We owe our success to our innovative product, emphasis on stores, commitment to our people, and the incredible connections we make in every community we're in. As a company, we focus on creating positive change to build a healthier, thriving future. In particular, that includes creating an equitable, inclusive and growth-focused environment for our people.
About This Team
The Merchandising team creates and executes transformative global product strategies that ensure we have the right assortment in the right place at the right time to fulfill our guests’ unmet needs to deepen our guest relationships, grow our brand and deliver on our long-term enterprise goals. We possess deep awareness and intuition of global marketplace dynamics and guest needs and use this knowledge to identify opportunities to maximize guest demand.
A Day In The Life
The Global Merchant is responsible for creating, curating and bringing product strategies and globalproduct assortment to life through seasonal line plans based on guest insights that reflect global and regional market needs. The Global Merchant has a deep understanding of the Global lululemon consumer and is consumer obsessed. This person is a strategist who can partner with the Design andProduct teams to ensure commercial viability across the global line delivered at Global Line Reviewto drive seasonal buying, brand and marketing activities. The Global Merchant collaborates with partners across the business to ensure product needs associated with critical enterprise priorities are identified, planned for and executed against and ensure brand consistency and regional relevance to maximize profitability and sales across product classes, key items and channels.
Key Responsibilities

• Be the voice of the guest and provide considered and clear feedback during fittings
• Accountable for data integrity of the product
• Review, validate and sign-off on sketches and protos against line plan brief ensuring all global guest needs are met and accountable for adoption ratio
• Proactively gathers, analyzes and drives insight from the competitive landscape, global/regional teams and cross functional partners across all channels for pre-season planning and hindsights
• Responsible for briefing content for packaging, product naming and features and benefits
• Responsible for global assortment handover to Regional Teams
• Create and present global product visual flow and communicate seasonal assortment strategies quarterly to all regional partners.
• Communicate category assortment to all stakeholders to drive consistent Merchandising messages globally
• Owns the pre-season planning process, breaking down roadmap stories into seasonal line plan and ensuring regional territory category needs are integrated, through ongoing partnerships with Regional teams
• Leads the successful creation, execution and maintenance of a line plan for assigned product categories that contribute to the financial success of the company
• Ensure briefs are met throughout product creation process, from line plan through to regional handover
• Provides leadership and functional excellence for their respective activity/category merchandising and design partners to meet key Merchandising Go-To-Market deadlines
• Brief colour flow for global assortment to ensure clear consistent profitable storytelling
• Bring global storytelling to life in partnership with Brand and Marketing teams
• Builds the architecture of the assortment in collaboration with Design and Product Development team
• Develops Global pricing product architecture
• Partners with Demand Planning and Sourcing teams to provide units and style volumes for global forecasting and vendor allocation
• Deliver profitable assortments driving IMU and cost goals needed to meet and exceed targets
• Manage and create key franchises and product lifecycle for all styles in assigned product categories including introduction, build and retirement

Qualifications

• Ability to lead and influence creative partners
• Ability to apply, interpret and synthesize marketplace data to create global assortment
• Willingness to travel (domestic and international) and work on the retail floor
• Ability to work independently to make sound business decision; and multitask, pivot, prioritize competing tasks and operate in a fast-paced environment, including ability to work in multi-category product creation calendars
• Ability to interpret and apply financial insights on current business performance and leverage insights to guide and inform future range plans
• Ability to balance analytical and creative tasks
• Acute eye for product and colour trends
• Strong communication skills both written and verbal and demonstrative ability to present to Senior leadership
• Aware of macro lifestyle and fashion trends and how this relates to the active and wellness industry
• Minimum five years of Merchandising or Buying experience is required. Vertical retail and/or omni channel experience is preferred
• Strong understanding of global marketplace, major shifts in trend and activity
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret multiple data points across numerous channels and market segments
• Ability to enroll and clearly communicate vision, class strategy and feedback to key partners
• Financial acumen and understanding of Retail Math
• BA, BSc, BBA, BComm (or equivalent), specialization in Retail or Merchandising Management an asset
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Program and mastery in excel, preferred experience in Merchandising software and in Adobe Illustrator

Must Haves

• Integrates fun and joy as a way of being and working, aka doesn’t take themselves too seriously.
• Possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and continuously innovates to achieve great results.
• Leads with courage, knowing the possibility of greatness is bigger than the fear of failure.
• Communicates with honesty and kindness and creates the space for others to do the same.
• Acknowledges the presence of choice in every moment and takes personal responsibility for their life.
• Fosters connection by putting people first and building trusting relationships.