Director, Merchandising Strategic Initiatives

Working in Nike's Merchandising & Planning Analytics team will be rewarding, it will be challenging, and it will most definitely not be just another job. You'll be an ambassador of the Nike brand -- everything we stand for: drive, determination, the unyielding commitment to excellence, these all will be a part of your everyday experience. We're committed to making every consumer's experience a rewarding one, and as a member of our analytics team, your contributions will be a big part of our success.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

As the Director of Merchandising Strategic Initiatives you will help the team make decisions that will drive performance, directly leading to the accomplishment of annual goals. You will lead a team of highly talented individuals. You will support leadership to help drive insights and will be the point person on understanding the business. You will apply various data modeling techniques to mine data for eg. the identification of trends that suggest new business opportunities. You will serve as an evangelist for the power of predictive/ prescriptive analysis. You will think broadly and creatively about the role of analytics at Nike and about how your work can be used to inspire the broader organization.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

You must be a self-starter, flexible thinker, and outstanding communicator who is comfortable learning quickly and connecting the dots between disparate methodologies. You will need those skills as you work across multiple functions and geographies within Nike’s matrixed organization. Success will depend on your ability to quickly form both professional and personal relationships with colleagues and drive to rigorous, actionable, user-friendly deliverables.

Overall, we are looking for someone who is passionate about working with numbers, who is highly technical but also has strong business acumen. The candidate should be self-driven, proactive and must show the capacity to manage several concurrent tracks of work. Superb teamwork skills are essential as is to communicate complicated ideas and conclusions in simple business terms.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

You will have the opportunity to collaborate with Merchandising, Planning and Finance leadership.  You will manage a team of highly motivated individuals.  You will work closely with IDSA teams as well as partnering closely with our Business Intelligence and Data Science Product Managers. 

WHAT YOU BRING

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Marketing, Statistics or a related field with 9+ years of experience focused on business reporting and analytics. An advanced degree preferred ( MS/MBA)

• 4 years of management experience required

• Knowledge in Merchandising & Planning with expert level skills in Excel and SQL as well as familiarity with R, SAS, or Python

• Tableau and familiarity with big data environments is preferred, but not required

• Must have strong technical and analytical skillset and be proficient in data wrangling and cleansing, optimization, simulation, and statistical analysis

• Proven ability to sift through data, identify critical information, develop hypotheses, apply relevant techniques, and perform rigorous analyses quickly and consistently

• Experience, interest, and adaptability to working in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment with ability to learn new tools quickly and independently

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, and ability to communicate complex concepts to senior and business audiences using data to influence decision making

• Strong project management experience managing multiple project streams and delivering results across cross-functional teams. Propensity for thinking through projects in a process-oriented manner

• Experience in developing an understanding of customers, competitors and retail trends; knowledge of sports apparel and footwear market preferred

• Familiarity with Nike product types and how they are marketed and distributed to accounts is strongly preferred