Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world’s best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At NIKE, Inc. it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.
Nike is seeking a Lead Merchant to drive the strategic vision, assortment creation, marketplace strategy, and licensed business growth for the Licensed Apparel portfolio. This role is responsible for developing consumer-right product assortments, influencing product creation, shaping marketplace architecture, and leading strategic partnerships with external licensees and marketplace partners.
The ideal candidate combines strong consumer intuition, merchandising expertise, and business acumen with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and external stakeholders. This individual will play a critical role in defining product strategies, identifying growth opportunities, and ensuring licensed assortments deliver both consumer impact and business results.
WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON
Lead Merchandising Strategy
- Develop and execute seasonal and long-range merchandising strategies for the Licensed Apparel business.
- Create consumer-right assortments that balance brand priorities, marketplace opportunities, and financial goals.
- Define assortment architecture, product segmentation, and franchise strategies across multiple consumer and distribution channels.
- Translate consumer insights, marketplace trends, and business performance into actionable merchandising strategies.
- Identify whitespace opportunities and emerging trends to drive future growth.
- Drive key business initiatives tied to seasonal launches, strategic partnerships, and event-driven opportunities.
- Evaluate business performance and adjust strategies based on consumer and marketplace insights.
Lead Licensed Business Partnerships
- Serve as the merchandising lead across strategic licensed business relationships, collaborating with third-party licensees.
- Influence product strategy, assortment direction, and marketplace opportunities through collaborative business planning.
- Establish strong working relationships that drive alignment, accountability, and shared business success.
- Guide partners on seasonal product priorities, assortment strategies, and marketplace opportunities while ensuring brand consistency.
- Represent the Licensed Apparel business during seasonal reviews and strategic planning discussions.
- Identify opportunities to improve product differentiation, accelerate growth, and expand marketplace reach through strategic partnerships.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
- 6+ years of merchandising, assortment planning, buying, product management, or related experience.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Marketing, or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience, and training.
- Proven experience managing complex apparel and/or footwear portfolios.
- Strong understanding of marketplace strategy, consumer segmentation, and retail fundamentals.
- Experience working with licensed products, strategic partnerships or third-party licensing models preferred, but not required.
- Strong analytical, storytelling, and presentation skills.
- Ability to balance consumer, product, and financial considerations to drive business growth.
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.
OUR HIRING GAME PLAN
01 Apply
Our teams are made up of diverse skillsets, knowledge bases, inputs, ideas and backgrounds. We want you to find your fit – review job descriptions, departments and teams to discover the role for you.
02 Meet a Recruiter or Take an Assessment
If selected for a corporate role, a recruiter will reach out to start your interview process and be your main contact throughout the process. For retail roles, you’ll complete an interactive assessment that includes a chat and quizzes and takes about 10-20 minutes to complete. No matter the role, we want to learn about you – the whole you – so don’t shy away from how you approach world-class service and what makes you unique.
03 Interview
Go into this stage confident by doing your research, understanding what we are looking for and being prepared for questions that are set up to learn more about you, and your background.
