Senior Manager, Merchandising (Promotional Products)

Our people set us apart with entrepreneurial spirit and ambition, coming from companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and the sports world. Based in Woodinville, WA, this role works onsite four days per week with one remote day; candidates must live within commuting distance.

About the role

The Senior Manager, Merchandising is a key leader within BDA’s merchandising organization, responsible for leading and developing a team of merchandising professionals and driving merchandising strategy and execution across assigned clients and categories. Reporting to the Director, Global Merchandising, this role provides day‑to‑day leadership, sets priorities, establishes clear accountability, and ensures delivery of strong product strategies and assortments that meet client and business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of merchandising professionals, creating clear expectations, accountability, and ownership.
• Establish team priorities, align resources to high‑impact clients, programs, and opportunities.
• Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and development to strengthen merchandising capabilities and build future leaders.
• Set goals and performance expectations; hold the team accountable for client, financial, and operational objectives.
• Manage multiple clients, programs, product launches, and competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment.
• Build a culture of collaboration, creativity, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with the Director on organizational structure, talent planning, capability development, and succession planning.
• Identify and implement process, tool, and communication improvements across the team.
• Develop and execute merchandising strategies across assigned clients, programs, and product categories.
• Guide the team in building product assortments that reflect brand, consumer needs, market trends, program objectives, and financial targets.
• Set direction for seasonal, evergreen, event‑driven, and client‑specific merchandise programs.
• Review and challenge assortment strategies to balance creativity, brand relevance, financial performance, and execution.
• Identify opportunities to expand categories, improve product mix, introduce new products, and strengthen programs.
• Ensure strategies are carried from concept through product development, launch, and ongoing management.
• Serve as senior merchandising partner to New Business Development, Client Services, and key clients; participate in discovery sessions, strategic planning, business reviews, product presentations, and new‑business pitches.
• Guide development of client product strategies, assortments, trend presentations, and category recommendations.
• Build strong relationships with client stakeholders and provide merchandising expertise that strengthens BDA’s partnerships.
• Support growth of existing programs and generate new ideas for clients.
• Lead review of sales, margin, inventory, sell‑through, in‑stock performance, and other key business measures.
• Use performance data, client insights, and market trends to guide merchandising decisions and improve sales, margin, and inventory productivity.
• Partner with Merchandise Planning and Purchasing to align strategies with forecasts, inventory plans, and replenishment.
• Conduct regular business and assortment reviews; escalate significant risks and opportunities.
• Build strong cross‑functional partnerships across NBD, Client Services, Design, Global Sourcing, Merchandise Planning, Purchasing, Operations, Logistics, and Compliance.
• Communicate merchandising priorities and product strategies clearly across functions.
• Collaborate with Global Sourcing on product capabilities, vendor opportunities, costing, lead times, quality, and production considerations.
• Work with Design to ensure product collections effectively bring client brands to life.
• Resolve cross‑functional issues and establish clear ownership when decisions span multiple teams.
• Represent the merchandising team in cross‑functional meetings and initiatives as needed.
• Maintain strong understanding of retail, consumer, apparel, lifestyle, cultural, and promotional merchandise trends.
• Identify emerging categories, products, materials, decoration techniques, and market opportunities.
• Translate trends into relevant product ideas and client opportunities.
• Partner with Design and Global Sourcing to introduce new products, capabilities, and ideas.
• Monitor competitive landscape and identify differentiation opportunities.
• Attend tradeshows, vendor meetings, market visits, and showrooms to scout new products and trends.
• Encourage the team to continuously bring forward new ideas and challenge existing assortments.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, Design, or related field preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in merchandising, product development, category management, retail, consumer goods, or promotional merchandise.
• 3+ years of experience leading and developing people and teams.
• Proven track record leading merchandising strategies, product assortments, and category initiatives.
• Strong understanding of product development, sourcing, merchandise planning, purchasing, inventory management, and production timelines.
• Experience using sales, margin, inventory, and product performance data to drive decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through others, establish priorities, and hold teams accountable.
• Strong client‑facing and presentation skills; experience presenting to senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to build cross‑functional relationships and influence multiple teams.
• Excellent organizational, communication, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Experience thriving in a fast‑paced environment managing multiple clients, programs, and priorities.
• Familiarity with merchandising, planning, ERP, PLM, or related systems preferred.
• Background in branded merchandise, retail, consumer products, apparel, lifestyle products, or a related industry strongly preferred.

Key Leadership Competencies

• People Leadership – builds strong teams, sets clear expectations, provides meaningful feedback, develops talent, and creates accountability.
• Merchandising Leadership – strong product instincts, category knowledge, and expertise to guide the team and improve client programs.
• Client Partnership – understands client brands and business objectives; translates them into effective merchandise strategies.
• Business & Financial Acumen – knows how merchandising decisions impact revenue, margin, inventory, and overall performance.
• Collaboration & Influence – builds effective cross‑functional partnerships and aligns teams around shared priorities.
• Decision Making – uses data, experience, and judgment to set priorities and move work forward.
• Execution & Accountability – creates clarity around ownership and ensures commitments are delivered.
• Change Leadership – helps teams adapt to growth, shifting priorities, new processes, and evolving client needs.

Position Details

• Budget Accountability: Full accountability for merchandising budgets, COGS, and category‑level margin management; partners with Finance and Operations for forecasting and profitability tracking.
• Reports: 2‑4 direct reports.
• Travel Requirements: 10‑15% travel for client meetings, business reviews, new‑business pitches, tradeshows, and vendor visits.
• Work Schedule & Location: Based at BDA Headquarters in Woodinville, WA with flexibility per company policy; occasional early‑morning or evening meetings for global collaboration.

Why Join BDA

This is a rare opportunity to shape the sourcing backbone of a global company on track to reach $1 billion in revenue while working with a team celebrated for creativity, accountability, and collaboration.