[Hiring] Regional Visual Merchandising Manager @Mountain Equipment Company

Role Description

This role oversees the visual execution and brand experience in the bricks and mortar environment. Through strong partnerships with the store teams, regular store visits and robust communications plans, and training and coaching, this role guides our store teams to deliver consistent best-in-class merchandising that drives both brand experience and business results. This position is remote and will require regular travel.

Location: This role is based out of Vancouver or Calgary and can regularly travel to our Western market stores (BC, AB, MB).

As the Regional Visual Merchandising Manager - West, you'll:

• Regional Area Leadership
  • Travel regularly: visit stores within your region on a regular cadence – you will be in-store 3-5 days per week depending on the season and priorities.
  • Deliver consistency in-store best-in-class experience: Support regular benchmarking audits & partnership with Regional Managers to ensure our high standards are maintained across our stores.
  • Coach and develop teams: continuously drive VM development and training initiatives within your region. Train and coach in-store teams on presentation standards, product placement, fixture use, resources, and styling techniques. Facilitation of the onboarding of new VM and SST staff. Support development plans for key talent.
  • Lead visual excellence: Oversee the execution of all floor sets, window displays, and visual workload across stores within your region to ensure alignment with directives and company standards and deliver a best-in-class experience to the customer. Review store photo submissions and compile photo decks. Validate photos to ensure merchandising and displays are meeting a consistently high visual level that is both inspirational and commercially competitive as well as being in line with established company standards, providing feedback and coaching store teams as needed.
  • Store Communications: Develop and maintain relationships with the stores to drive overall support and implementation of directives, providing guidance and supporting questions. Develop a regular communication cadence and feedback structure with stores in your region. Lead regular regional calls to walk stores through upcoming initiatives, support monthly VM conference calls, provide clear and concise communications and feedback.
  • Support in-store workload planning: support your stores with building efficient rollout plans and schedules for visual workload, ensuring all stores meet key deadlines and maintain consistency.
• Support Office Partnerships
  • VM directives: Receive seasonal VM plans from Support Office partners, ensure successful implementation of brand vision throughout your region.
  • Process improvement: Support the development of new VM tools and processes to drive functional efficiencies and transparency.
  • Partnership within Retail Ops: work with internal partners and Regional Managers to align on how to deliver VM excellence in your region and ensure merchandising directives align with safety, space planning, and operational standards.
  • Analyze and optimize: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to review store performance, flag risks or barriers to successful executions, campaign completions, product sell-through, and customer engagement to inform future visual strategies.
  • VM Training: Supports with building VM training programs for all levels of staff.
• Store Projects
  • Travel as required to support store projects.
  • Support planning process and pre-site visits for store projects including but not limited to store renovations, store relocations, new store opens and rebrands.
  • Lead teams during the execution of store projects including but not limited to store renovations, store relocations, new store opens and rebrands.

Qualifications

• At least 3-5 years of relevant retail/visual merchandising experience, including 2 years’ experience leading a team or overseeing a region.
• Diverse experience with visual merchandising across multiple product categories.
• Works well in a fast-paced environment.
• Self-motivated with the courage to innovate and learn quickly.
• Confident presence and ability to provide coaching and feedback.
• Strong communicator, skilled at writing clear and concise communications. Exceptional listener, collaborative.
• Demonstrates initiative, is conscientious and follows through on areas of responsibility.
• Excellent planning, organizational and project management skills, with the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines.
• Natural problem-solver, able to develop strategic solutions that work within budgets and timelines.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and can react in an action-focused manner.
• Experience in process improvement and change management in busy, high-volume retail or service environments.
• Experience with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Power BI. Comfortable with learning new software programs.
• You’re stoked on something: you love to build trails, log miles, organize hut trips, lean into corners, climb splitters or do something outside every day.

Benefits

• This is a permanent role with the anticipated salary range of $65,000 to $81,000 base + bonus. The exact salary will be dependent on the successful candidate’s relevant skills, experience, qualifications and internal equity.
• Generous annual vacation allotment & Paid Care time (Wellness/sick).
• Maternity and Parental leave top-up.
• Staff Discount and amazing deals straight from vendors.
• Top-notch benefit plan & Retirement plan with matched contributions.
• Paid days to pursue outdoor activities and/or volunteer in your community.
• Access to a learning platform and educational assistance support.