Associate Merchant

The Merchant, Associate at The ODP Group works cross-functionally to support strategic category plans, improve profitability, and drive product strategy and innovation.

Responsibilities

• Defines and manages the process for running assortment promotions and postmortem against key sales, margin, and inventory metrics; incorporates and communicates learnings to leadership for assortment, promotion, and purchasing decisions.
• Makes recommendations on a SKU-level basis to support decisions related to SKU additions, promotional activity, and aged inventory promotional strategy.
• Partners with the B2B pricing team to maximize margin on bid responses through SKU mix, negotiating vendor funding, and understanding market competition.
• Negotiates and collects vendor funding for new customer bids and promotions.
• Provides product forecasting to inventory teams to maximize promotional effectiveness; influences and evaluates inventory health for promotional effectiveness.
• Performs competitive price shops to ensure market competitiveness on web, in-store, and large customer bids; evaluates and implements corrective action.
• Works with the Solution Insight team to improve profitability.
• Partners with category team members to fulfill category management objectives.
• Develops and maintains pricing relationships for good/better/best pricing and private brand vs. national brand pricing in coordination with strategic pricing teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Business Administration, Marketing, Merchandising, or a related field.
• Minimum of 4 years of experience in:
  • Product selection and assortment planning
  • Vendor and supplier negotiation
  • Market and consumer trend analysis
  • Pricing strategy development
  • Promotional planning and execution
  • Inventory management
  • Sales and performance analysis
  • Cross-functional collaboration
  • Category management
  • Retail operations understanding
• Intermediate PC software skills using Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Skills

• Analytical skills
• Negotiation skills
• Financial acumen
• Strategic thinking
• Communication skills
• Project management
• Problem-solving skills
• Initiative
• Resilience
• Integrity
• Curiosity
• Passion for retail
• Empathy
• Decisiveness
• Adaptability
• Collaboration
• Attention to detail

About The ODP Group

The ODP Group, through its business entities ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot, is a leading provider of products, services, and technology solutions via an integrated business-to-business (B2B) distribution platform and omnichannel presence. This includes world-class supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated sales professionals, an online presence, and a network of Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $67,900 to $106,100 per year, with adjustments made to comply with all state and local minimum wage requirements.

Benefits

The company offers a competitive benefits package, including a 401(k), and opportunities for growth within the organization. Eligible employees may participate in an incentive program, paid according to the Incentive Plan terms and conditions.