Senior Apparel Merchandiser - International Distributor Region

About the role

This position is designated as a hybrid role based out of our headquarters near Portland, Oregon. The current expectation is for employees to work onsite four days per week, subject to change based on business needs. This in-office requirement may be adjusted at the discretion of the company.

Responsibilities

• Build market- and consumer-relevant seasonal assortments aligned to brand strategy, leveraging historical performance, trend insights, and financial risk/reward analysis.
• Implement regional merchandising strategies that balance brand heat with high-volume commercial drivers across the marketplace matrix.
• Identify market opportunities and influence future line direction by partnering with Product Creation teams to shape investment priorities that meet regional needs.
• Lead End-in-Mind assortment planning, including channel segmentation, pricing strategy, and merchandising classification excellence to ensure enough products that serve the marketplace and drive productivity.
• Own the product handover to Sales Planning, Channel Merch, ensuring teams are equipped with clear product stories, innovation highlights, and seasonal Brand priorities.
• Manage the full seasonal adoption process—from concept through sales meeting—ensuring financial targets, SKU productivity, and style count goals are met.
• Maintain accuracy and integrity of all merchandising systems and data, including adoption, pricing, forecasting, and catalog readiness.
• Build strong relationships with channel leaders to define and implement segmentation strategies that maximize revenue and profitability.
• Partner with Sales, Planning, and Marketing to develop seasonal and long-term growth strategies supported by business planning.
• Collaborate with Sales and Strategic Response Team to ensure SMUs are efficient, profitable, and aligned with the regional vision.
• Work with Sales to develop competitive and aligned seasonal pricing strategies.
• Improve forecast accuracy, SKU efficiency, and overall product productivity each season.
• Use market insights, consumer data, and sales performance to influence product mix and ensure coverage of key price points.
• Manage sample ordering and sample room organization to ensure easy access and visibility for cross-functional teams.
• Team Enablement & Communication: Educate the sales force on product innovation, technologies, brand initiatives, assortments, and marketing support. Communicate clearly and effectively across small and large groups, ensuring alignment and clarity throughout the GTM cycle.

Requirements

YOU HAVE 5+ years of merchandising experience in sportswear, outdoor, or specialty retail categories. International Distributor Region Apparel Merchandising experience preferred. Strong business and product management skills with demonstrated financial acumen. Deep understanding of the consumer, retail landscape, and competitive marketplace. Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe Creative Suite (PC or Mac). Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field, or equivalent experience in Merchandising or Sales.

Qualifications

YOU ARE a clear, confident communicator who can influence across functions and levels. A strategic thinker who thrives in detail-oriented execution. Skilled in persuasion, storytelling, and presenting complex ideas simply. Analytical, curious, and comfortable solving ambiguous problems.

Skills

YOU ARE skilled in persuasion, storytelling, and presenting complex ideas simply. Analytical, curious, and comfortable solving ambiguous problems.

Benefits

At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding. Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community. Benefits that can protect your family’s financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match. Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services). In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.