Sr Manager Merchandising Strategy - Ulta Beauty, Inc.

Discover greater levels of performance. With over 1,300 stores throughout the U.S. and an innovative omni-channel ecosystem, Ulta Beauty is revolutionizing the beauty retail experience. Ulta Beauty is expanding its digital capabilities, opening new stores on a continual basis and re-designing 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 re-imagination. 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.

POSITION SUMMARY:

As a growth company that delivers beauty for all, we seek an individual that has a passion for leading strategy development for Beauty retail. The Sr. Manager of Merchandising Strategy, reporting to the Sr. Director of Merchandising Strategy & Insights, will be responsible for developing the long-term and annual Merchandising strategy, leading visioning, problem structuring, problem solving and opportunity identification and evaluation. They will partner closely with leaders across Merchandising, Planning & Inventory, Finance, Analytics, Enterprise Strategy, and other cross-functional groups to identify future opportunities to drive growth and profitability. This role will necessitate a strong curiosity and deep understanding of the beauty industry and its adjacencies, an awareness and assessment of competitive intelligence and insights, a pulse on the consumer applied to beauty, and more. In addition, they will lead, evolve and facilitate the functional strategy processes, ensuring Merchandising is aligned with Enterprise Strategy goals and timelines. Finally, this role will lead select strategic initiatives within Merchandising in support of execution of annual planning and its strategies.

This individual will blend tested strategy development, strong analytics, and leadership ability to drive long-term competitive advantages in growth and efficiency.

CORE JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Shape, develop and evolve long term and annual strategic planning process within Merchandising that delivers strong results and is in alignment with the Enterprise
• Develop and drive long-term and annual strategies that deliver competitive advantages and market share growth through development of strategic frameworks, problem structuring and recommendation development, with a lens of practical execution
• Drive the development and activation of select strategic initiatives within Merchandising, inclusive of project initiation and formation, roadmap development, and overall strategic execution
• Define and bring forward creative, out-of-the-box thinking to identify white space opportunities – assess and articulate the strategic rational, grounded in data-driven insights, in support of Merchandising
• Bring an analytical mindset to strengthen our understanding of the competitive landscape through data-driven and forward-looking insights, partnering with other areas of the enterprise who execute competitive analysis
• Translate complex ideas into clear, compelling messages to influence and communicate effectively to all levels and departments across the organization
• Create compelling socialization narratives and communication tools that include influential data points and easy to interpret data visualizations (graphs/charts) to effectively convey strategic opportunities
• Manage key, cross-functional strategic partnerships across Merchandising, Marketing, Consumer Insights, Corporate Strategy, Finance, etc. to collaborate on and activate on select strategic initiatives

• Present in large group settings and elicit collaboration from a wide variety of sources, including executive leadership, to gain buy-in and influence strategic direction

REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION:

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of experience in strategy roles and/or strategy consulting; MBA a plus
• Experience in beauty, retail, retail-like categories, or consumer product goods preferred
• Previous experience with market measurement, such as Circana, Nielsen, Euromonitor preferred
• Advanced PowerPoint and Excel skills required
• Highly analytical with demonstrated ability to translate data into key insights to drive decisions
• Exceptional problem-solving and critical thinking skills
• Innate curiosity, coupled with ability to structure problems in pursuit of identifying white space opportunities
• Ability to manage ambiguity and use business savvy and strategic thinking to recommend the best approach forward
• Proven strength in influencing stakeholders without direct authority to gain alignment
• Strong collaborator, working across functions and levels, and team oriented with a coachable, positive attitude
• Highly organized with the ability to balance multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize workload
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with ability to communicate complex topics in a simple and effective manner
• Strong executive presence
• Bias for action

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.