Framingham, Massachusetts, United States
Merchandising
1251205

Staples is business to business. You’re what binds us together.

Our merchandising team aims to deliver the best value and selection to our customers through products, services and solutions all centered around our customers’ needs. We are driven by customer insights and analytics to bring products and solutions to market seamlessly. We are inclusive, well-rounded professionals who have deep experience in buying, selling, negotiating, operations, design, innovation, finance and more.

What you’ll be doing:

• Responsible for the development and execution of category and product level strategies which drive profitable overall sales and margin growth for assigned categories across the North American business units.
• Oversee & drive the management of new product development and maintenance projects from Define to Launch in support of category growth strategies.
• Demonstrates category management expertise through use of all data sources to drive decision making and to influence merchants to support Private Brand growth.
• Partner with merchandising leads to influence all aspects related to Private Brands including financial performance, assortment and portfolio mix, value positioning and placement.
• Create business cases to support new product development; sell in product ideas to merchants.
• Support Product Development and Sourcing team on creating tech packs and required feature/benefits.
• Work with Brand Strategy team to build compelling consumer propositions and support in the creation of compelling packaging and messaging.
• Drive the creation of product briefs, giving definition and direction on a new project to the rest of the team. This includes ideation, definition, and project management.
• Maintain Project Management Database with all information / changes for new product development projects.
• Manage ongoing product assortment (lifecycle management) and tracks category performance and assortment productivity.
• Analyze and interprets consumer and industry trends and maintains competitive research.
• Partner with the Insights team to establish success metrics, review results regularly and develop business recommendations based on findings.
• Leads category annual planning by working with Brand Strategy team to drive connecting between brand strategy to individual categories.
• Influences stakeholders at various levels by utilizing internal and external data, research, and customer-centric insights to drive product development, assortment, and sustainability initiatives.

What you bring to the table:

• Ability to influence without authority.
• Analytical thinker and problem solver, with the ability to use the data to tell a story and drive the business.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Have initiative, be flexible, detail-oriented and a team player.
• The willingness to work to tight deadlines in high pressured environments without compromising on work quality.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative, corporate environment with a professional and positive attitude.
• Ability to demonstrate category management expertise through use of all data sources to drive decision making and to influence merchants to support Private Brand growth.
• Ability to influence stakeholders at various levels by utilizing internal and external data, research, and customer-centric insights to drive product development, assortment, and sustainability initiatives.