Manager, Merchandising Strategy - Remote Job Listing at Harbor Freight Tools in Calabasas, CA (Job ID 1283649)

Description

The Manager, Merch Strategy is an internal strategy consultant who will support the accelerated growth of Harbor Freight. This role sits on Harbor Freight's Merchandising team, which drives many of the company's most critical decisions around product, placement, pricing, and promotion, as well as supporting initiatives related to people, process, and technology.
We are looking for someone who is endlessly curious and an independent thinker, with an ability to quickly build custom frameworks and craft clearly-storylined strategy decks. This role will partner closely with the Director, Merch Strategy to identify and define critical projects, build strategy update decks, and lead conversations with senior leaders that influence the overall direction of the organization.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Why This Role         
• Impact: Play a key role in solving the most challenging and complex problems faced by one of the fastest growing retailers in the US  
• Remote: Enjoy the flexibility of working from home and building relationships with colleagues across the country
• Career Growth: Get on an inside track to accelerated career development through exposure to a diverse array of projects and a tailored career plan 
• Culture: Join Harbor Freight's award-winning culture, where we have a passion for excellence and we enjoy working together as a team
• Privately Held: Work for a company where we are investing for the long term    
• What You'll Do       
• Strategy Consulting: Serve as an internal consultant for key business leaders, providing analytics, problem-solving, and strategic frameworks to vet strategic ideas and initiatives 
• Industry Trend Analysis: Stay current on retail industry trends and competitive dynamics, assessing and communicating their potential impact on the business     
• Business Foresight: Anticipate future business changes and challenges; proactively develop and implement new or revised plans to address changes 
• Executive Decks: Build and present compelling executive presentations with clear storylines and insights that influence the strategic direction of the organization            
• Growth Opportunities: Identify whitespace growth opportunities and develop plans for executive initiatives, including new business opportunities and strategies         
• Ad Hoc Projects: Execute ad hoc projects and/or discrete analyses, presenting findings and recommendations to senior management as needed     
• Influential Bridge Building: Build influential partnerships with leaders in Merchandising and other departments, including Finance, Store Ops, Store Environment, Supply Chain, Marketing, and eCommerce            
• Strategic Communication: Communicate department strategies to relevant departments and executive teams regularly, incorporating feedback into strategic plans        
• Leadership in Merchandising: Provide strategic and tactical leadership in Merchandising to ensure financial goals and department strategic priorities are achieved          
• Financial Data Analysis: Conduct financial data analysis as needed to solve problems and uncover insights, including SKU price performance analysis, margin and cost analysis, forecasting, customer data analysis, and competitor analysis     
• Project Post-Mortems: Lead project post-mortems and track learnings for future enhancements             

• Staff supervision and development:  No
• Decision making:  Develop strategy, analyze, influence, manage projects
• Travel:  Up to 5%
• Flex Designation:  Anywhere within the continental U.S.

• Bachelor of Science Degree from a top-tier university, preferred

• 2-3+ years of progressive work responsibility
• Prior management consulting experience required; experience at Bain, BCG, or McKinsey preferred
• Financial analysis experience is a plus

• Independent thinker who is endlessly curious and can ask targeted questions to drive strategic conversations with senior leaders
• Strong understanding of strategic frameworks, financial data, problem-solving and analytical skills; comfortable working with ambiguity
• Self-starter; ability to move projects forward with minimal direction
• Must be able to perform under pressure, short deadlines and in high visibility settings
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to tell clear and compelling storylines using PowerPoint decks
• Project management skills – detail-oriented with ability to manage a large volume of project tasks and keep a project on track to achieve objectives on time
• Ability to effectively build relationships and influence internal partners, peers, and leadership

• Stand, walk, sit for extended periods of time.
• Speak and listen to others in person and over the phone and video conferencing.
• Use keyboard and read from computer screen and reports.
• The ability to lift up to 15 lbs.

• Must be able to perform this job safely in accordance with standard operating procedures and good manufacturing practices, without endangering the health or safety of self or others.