Job Title: Merchandiser, Instruments

Reports to: Vice President of Merchandise and Procurement

Work Location: Elkhart, IN

The Merchandiser, Instruments is responsible for all portfolio curation, planning and financial performance of all assigned product categories, including being a thought partner with Product Development to create and maintain the product roadmap. The Merchandiser, Instruments is directly responsible for portfolio forecasting, COGS, GP, GM and GMROI and drives business results and increased profitability through data analytics.

Responsibilities:

• Establish, coordinate, and implement the respective category strategies in collaboration with the Product Team, including developing business and product life cycle plans that support current market trends and inventory needs.
• Provide category insights and propose roadmap adjustments by analyzing market and customer data and monitoring relevant market conditions.
• Work with manufacturing and procurement to determine costing/product information to facilitate management / operational decision-making regarding COGS, GP, GM and GMROI.
• Determine market size & growth potential for each category and product.
• Regularly conduct competitive analyses, portfolio assessment and price positioning.
• Identify emerging product trends and opportunities for continuous portfolio improvements
• Leverage sales data, product gaps, and consumer & industry trends to recommend product plans.
• Work with sales to forecast annual usage by SKU in order to maintain sufficient supply
• Understand consumer needs, pain points & product gaps to identify & quantify emerging consumer segments.
• Provide monthly reports on channel insights.
• Collaborate with the Product Development team on sample development process to meet customers' product acceptance criteria, and work towards commercializing the development to ensure customer retention and sales growth.
• Facilitate communication between the PIM, Product and Marketing Teams to ensure products are set up prior to launch and maintained throughout the product lifecycle.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years of M.I. industry experience in global product development, merchandising, or procurement.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business or a related field
• Ability to effectively work in a matrixed organization with geographically dispersed teams.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
• Highly self-motivated and directed. Proven strategic, analytical, problem-solving abilities
• Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-paced environment.
• Experience working collaboratively within environment.
• Ability to travel, up to 25%.