Job Description

About Bluemercury:

With locations in coveted neighborhoods across the country, Bluemercury takes beauty personally. Founded on a client-first service model that emphasizes hyper-personalized, high-quality experiences, the leading luxury beauty destination and Macy’s, Inc. nameplate offers a highly curated and premium product assortment across a range of categories. Bluemercury is redefining modern luxury in beauty and as it evolves, it remains committed to its exceptional customer service origins and embraces its purpose to be the ultimate specialist in the beauty of its clients. For more information, please visit www.bluemercury.com

The VP of Merchandising & Proprietary Brands is a senior leader responsible for defining and driving Bluemercury’s overall merchandising and brand growth strategy across stores and digital channels.

This leader sets the vision for Bluemercury’s assortment, proprietary brands, vendor partnerships, and vendor marketing strategy. They are accountable for driving sales, margin, profitability, customer growth and overall business performance. They will identify and capitalize on opportunities to strengthen Bluemercury’s position as a leading luxury beauty retailer.

A critical part of the role is developing and leading strategic vendor relationships. This includes building executive-level partnerships, shaping joint business plans, negotiating commercial terms and investments, and securing opportunities that drive differentiated growth for Bluemercury and its vendor partners.

As a key member of the senior leadership team, this executive will help shape the future direction of Bluemercury. They will serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team, bringing a strong commercial perspective to decisions across the business. They will partner closely with Marketing, Digital, Planning, Finance, Stores and Macy’s Inc. to align the organization with a cohesive commercial vision and translate strategy into measurable results.

The role leads and develops a high-performing merchandising organization, while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, and customer-centricity. This leader must be equally comfortable setting long-term strategy, influencing enterprise decisions, negotiating with strategic partners, and driving executive against the financial performance of the business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Commercial Strategy & Leadership:

• Define and lead Bluemercury’s long-term commercial and merchandising strategy, including assortment, category, brand and customer growth priorities across stores and digital channels
• Serve as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team and strategic partner to the CEO and other enterprise leaders
• Shape the future direction of the business by identifying new growth opportunities, challenging existing thinking, and translating market and customer insights into strategic priorities
• Set a strategic category and portfolio vision that aligns company priorities and delivers financial targets
• Own the financial performance of the merchandising portfolio and drive disciplined decision-making across sales, margin, profitability, inventory and investment
• Identify and capitalize on emerging beauty, consumer, category, and competitive trends to fuel sustainable growth
• Partner with, and influence senior leaders across Stores, Digital, Marketing, Planning and Finance to align enterprise priorities and accelerate growth
• Bring a strong commercial lens to enterprise decisions and ensure merchandising strategy is integrated across the broader business

Proprietary Brands & Innovation:

• Set the strategic vision and growth agenda for Bluemercury’s proprietary brands, from product strategy and innovation through commercialization and performance
• Champion differentiated assortment, brand, and category innovation that strengthens Bluemercury’s competitive position
• Drive profitable growth and strengthen the role of prop brands in differentiating Bluemercury’s customer experience and competitive position

• Identify emerging trends and opportunities, build compelling business cases, and drive innovation

Strategic Vendor Partnerships & Negotiations:

• Build and lead a portfolio of best-in-class strategic vendor relationships that drive mutual growth and strengthen Bluemercury’s competitive advantage

• Establish executive level partnerships with key brands and vendors, and serve as a senior point of engagement for critical business relationships

• Lead strategic negotiations with vendors, including commercial terms, margin opportunities, marketing investments, exclusivity, product launches, and other growth-driving initiatives

• Develop joint business plans with strategic vendors to drive sales, customer acquisition, brand growth and incremental investment

• Lead market meetings with senior leadership team and vendors to identify opportunities, align priorities and collaborate on product development and growth initiatives

Omnichannel & Customer Experience:

• Ensure a compelling and consistent merchandise experience across stores and digital

• Collaborate with Bluemercury Digital and Marketing teams to develop and execute comprehensive marketing plans and programs, both short and long term

• Own financial performance of the merchandising portfolio, in partnership with Finance and Planning

• Conduct and direct ongoing analytics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities in the portfolio to drive active management of the business

• Leverage analytics and performance insights to identify risks and opportunities and drive timely action

• Actively monitor performance; develop action plans to mitigate risks and/or respond to changing circumstances, and execute them in a timely manner

• Drive sales, merchandising margin and enhance customer experience by ensuring in-store and online merchandise strategy and execution aligns with company objectives

• Support the development of the assortment roadmap to position the company as the fastest growing luxury beauty retailer

• Influence Senior Leadership Team to align with merchandising strategies and capitalize on customer-centric sales opportunities

People & Enterprise Leadership:

• Lead, inspire and develop high-performing merchandising organization with strong leadership depth and succession

• Build an organization capable of operating with both strategic vision and commercial rigor

• Champions enterprise-wide development, succession, and recognition efforts as a key people leader — fostering growth, celebrating impact, and building a strong, future-ready talent pipeline

• Foster an environment of acceptance and respect that strengthens relationships, and ensures authentic connections with colleagues, clients, and communities

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred

• 12+ years of merchandising, buying, or planning experience in retail, ideally within luxury, beauty, or specialty sectors

• Proven leadership experience leading a large merchandising organization

• Demonstrate ability to develop and execute a multi-year merchandise strategy within a complex omnichannel environment

• Strong financial and analytical acumen with experience in OTB management, forecasting, and profitability analysis

• Deep understanding of omni-channel retail and the intersection between in-store and digital experiences

• Experience with proprietary. Private label, or owned brand development and growth strongly preferred

• Exceptional executive communication, influence, and relationship management skills

• Entrepreneurial, adaptable, and energized by leading through change and growth

• Highly adaptable, resilient and energized by leading through change, ambiguity and growth

This job description is not all inclusive. Bluemercury, Inc. reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. Bluemercury, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment.