WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR 

We are looking for a Lead Footwear Buyer to be part of our Nike Stores Merchandising Team. You will be responsible for managing Women’s Sportswear Footwear business unit within the Nike stores channel of the North America geography. The role requires the ability to partner, communicate and influence key cross-functional partners (Business Directors and Stores Leadership, Geo Consumer Merch, Planning & Allocation, Visual Merchandising, Store Operations teams, Brand Marketing) to bring to life the end of in mind vision of the assortment to best serve our Nike consumers. Strong sense of business acumen, a deep passion for sport and trend, the ability to manage and drive multiple seasons, and a deep understanding of the marketplace and consumer will be critical to this role.

For Nike merchants, everything begins and ends with the consumer! We are looking for a consumerist with an affinity for product who enjoys the energy of moving at the pace of retail and our consumer. A successful Lead Merchant will contribute to an inclusive, positive, and progressive team dynamic. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.  

This candidate should possess an understanding of the Nike consumer and marketplace landscapes. The candidate should possess solid retail acumen and analytical skills, and an understanding of retail environments and trends.

At times working autonomously, agile, and solution-oriented, this role is responsible for driving the consumer product offering across the different merchandising dimensions. They will also influence the product offering End to End (from insights to adoption) as well as focusing on multi-season management of Nike’s most innovative franchises! 

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON 

You will build consumer-centric assortment plans with an understanding of the full marketplace, blending fact-based and intuitive inputs, with a clear vision of the end in mind final execution. You will participate in seasonal reviews & assortment building in partnership with your Nike store merchandising team and your cross-functional triad team.   

You will balance multiple seasons. Your insights will contribute to future season plans and adoption by supporting Merchandising Leadership and upstream partnership within Geo and Global Nike Direct Merchandising. You will manage your areas of assortment planning in depth during the seasonal process and gather consumer trends and marketplace insights from in-market seasons. 

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH 

You will work closely with fellow merchants and cross-functional teams within Nike Direct, Consumer Merchandising team, Planning, Allocation, and Brand Marketing. We also work with VMS, Stores Operations and the Planning team; relying on business reporting for your area, which includes quantitative and qualitative metrics on sales, inventory and consumer behaviors.  

WHAT YOU BRING 

• Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience, and training.
• 5-6 years of experience in Footwear, Apparel, Equipment, or relevant consumer product merchandising, product creation and/or retail in a vertical, multi-brand or digital environment 
• Strong command of common retail and/or digital metrics such as sell-through, margin, full price realization, weeks of supply, etc. 

• Proven ability to translate consumer, sales, trend, and marketplace insights into in-season and long-term breakthrough strategies 
• Preparing seasonal tools to equip your marketplace partners with an understanding of seasonal priorities. 
• Experience developing strong working relationships with teammates and cross-functional partners 
• Great teammate and contributor, with an attitude and excitement to learn new things 
• Strong communication skills and comfort navigating a cross-functional matrix with an emphasis on influencing skills 

• Attention to detail, understanding the importance of consistency 
• Ability to travel 20%.

We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed. If you discover, as you navigate our application process, that you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Candidate Accommodation Request Form.