Who We Are

Wayfair’s Physical Retail team is seeking a GM Merchandising to build and lead a team of merchants that will help drive Wayfair’s physical retail agenda. This role will be a part of the Physical Retail Leadership Team that will help craft and execute Wayfair’s strategy as we stand up and scale stores across Europe. We believe there is a white space in the brick-and-mortar market and an opportunity to create a differentiated retail experience that showcases the breadth and depth of our catalog, and this position will play a key role in driving this exciting initiative.

This Chief Merchant will set the merchandise direction and strategy for our stores, to ensure achievement of company business goals.  They will be responsible for conceptualizing and developing the merchandise strategy, leading a team of merchants, and defining product assortments across a significant number of categories.  They will collaborate closely with several senior-level cross-functional partners (e.g., Planning & Allocation, Visual Merchandising, Creative, Store Operations).  This leader will develop a deep understanding of the customer, the market, and our business, and pair this with the strategic thinking, creativity, leadership and bias to action that will drive success in this highly entrepreneurial environment.  We are seeking a motivated leader who can drive strong sales productivity and profitability, and ensure customer satisfaction, in our physical retail business.

This role is based in Berlin with significant cross-functional responsibility and exposure to senior executives.  As the physical retail portfolio grows, this position should expect to continue to augment their team to manage an increasing fleet of stores. 

What You’ll Do 

• Own the outcomes for the merchandise performance in our physical retail channel (revenue and profitability)
• Build out and lead a highly-capable retail merchant team to manage many different categories of products
• Direct merchants in developing tailored product assortments that support the needs of the customer while achieving space efficiency
• Partner closely with Visual Merchandising, Creative, and Store Operations leadership to bring selection to life in the store
• Partner closely with Planning & Allocation, Forecasting and Supply Chain leadership to ensure inventory needs are met
• Oversee regular line review and category review processes to assess performance and revise assortment and space allocation strategy, both within and across categories
• Leverage quantitative and qualitative data, along with test-and-learn methodology, to continue to improve performance
• Adjust strategies in-season where needed and provide appropriate and timely direction in order to react to customer and business needs
• With geographic expansion, establish and test potential for regional merchandising solutions
• Become an expert (along with your merchants) on our categories, including the customer journey (offline and online), key competitors, market trends, etc.
• Partner with Wayfair’s ecommerce team to build an industry-leading omni-channel offering
• Work closely with supplier executives to design and implement go-to-market strategies

What You’ll Need 

• Significant Retail experience required, with preferred experience in Home or adjacent categories (e.g., general merchandise, apparel)
• Extensive experience in Retail Management over a fleet of stores (e.g., Chief Merchant, General Merchandise Manager, or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to create and lead important strategic initiatives
• Ability to implement strategic plans and drive results with multiple teams and stakeholders; inspire and motivate teams to bring future state vision to life
• Ability to leverage data (quantitative and qualitative) to drive strategic decision-making and tight execution
• Able to collaborate across all levels of the organization, including executive audiences, to achieve objectives
• Evidence of “scrappy start-up execution” and a “get it done” attitude when time is tight and stakes are high
• Thrives in a high growth, ambiguous environment
• Some travel required