Director of Merchandising The Opportunity: As the Director of Merchandising, you will be responsible for overseeing the lifecycle of jewelry products, from ideation and design through production, launch, and ongoing optimization. You with drive market requirements for their specific area of the business. In addition, be the SME interface to clients, sales, marketing and operational teams to identify business requirements and partnerships. You’ll work cross-functionally with manufacturing, merchandising, marketing, sourcing, and sales teams to deliver products that meet both customer expectations and business goals. What You'll Do: • Create and maintain a product roadmap that aligns with the company’s strategic goals. Drive product development life cycle from concept, design, testing, and production deployment, and product commercialization. • Develop and implement a comprehensive supply chain strategy Responsible for providing a vision of where the company could be from a product and industry perspective to the Executive Team. Once the Executive Team sets the vision, share and articulate the vision, direction, priorities and expectations to the Supply Chain and linked teams. • Direct, track and report product performance throughout its lifecycle. Work with supply chain and inventory planning to forecast demand, track product performance, and assist in managing stock levels. • Work with manufacturing or vendors to bring products to market from concept to final sample approval, maintaining craftsmanship standards and timely completion; and make product allocation selections considering cost, capacity, lead times, manufacturing feasibility, quality standards, and brand aesthetics. • Responsible for conception through end-of-life ownership for a specific product, product group or product line including product management, product development and business development. Manage existing product lines, identifying opportunities for redesigns, discontinuations, or enhancements. • Maintain awareness and understanding of customer and market needs (VOC). • Use customer feedback and data insights to inform product decisions and improve offerings. • Develop business cases to support new product recommendations. • Provide relevant product information and expertise to support sales effort. Assist with the training of sales, customer service and marketing teams. • Create the strategy around merchandising products for all aspects of marketing including ecommerce platforms including promotions, advertising, training materials and product collateral. Partner with marketing and sales teams to ensure successful product launches and promotional campaigns. • Recognizing new markets, partnerships, and revenue streams to expand the company’s reach. Responsible for exploring and assessing new markets and other business opportunities for viability and reporting to the Executive Team. • Direct the development of product pricing matrix to ensure products are market priced and create the margin needed. Collaborate with the Executive Team and design an acceptable profit & margin to ensure we meet the business objectives. • Direct training for new and existing products that includes: talking points, pricing matrix, competitor information and marketing materials. Goals: • Provide a documented monthly update to the Executive Team on identifying and evaluating business opportunities. • Create a business strategy aligned with the Executive Director’s long-term objectives annually. • Produce a competitive market analysis to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement quarterly. • Achievement of business growth targets in revenue, market share and partnerships. • Develop strategies to achieve margin % targets. • % of new business opportunities provided to the Executive Director Team. • Provide relevant counsel to linked teams on business opportunities and objectives. • Positive team feedback, retention, and performance in cross functional collaboration. What You'll Need: • Bachelor’s degree or higher in related field or equivalent work experience • Minimum of 3 years of hands-on experience in product development within the fine jewelry industry (bridal is preferred). • Strong understanding of product lifecycle and go-to-market strategies. • Proven ability to manage projects from concept to production successfully, demonstrating exceptional communication skills, impeccable attention to detail, excellent organizational and time-management abilities, with the capacity to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines. • Extensive knowledge of jewelry design, gemology, materials, and manufacturing processes - including CAD design software, Excel and other relevant tools used in product development. Familiarity with jewelry manufacturing processes and materials a plus. • Strong understanding of cost analysis, pricing strategies, and market trends in fine jewelry. • Experience collaborating with external partners, including negotiating priorities, aligning roadmaps, and driving successful outcomes that drive revenue • Adept at working in agile methodologies, partnering with manufacturing or third parties to facilitate fast turn development. • Proven record using data to drive decision making and impact measurement Compensation: $110k-120k annual salary Schedule/Work Environment: • Experience with direct management of associates. This position could be remote, based in our NYC office, and having experience with remote management of direct reports is preferred. • The ability to travel up to 50% of the time with regular travel to Albuquerque NM corporate offices. • Must work in office regular M-F hours. The successful candidate will enjoy a rewarding, challenging, and principled work environment. For more information about us please visit: www.riogrande.com Guided by our core values, Rio Grande is committed to treating all people with dignity and respect. We are an equal-opportunity employer with a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination of any kind. As an advocate for equity and equality, we hire, train, and promote qualified people of all backgrounds. We consider employment candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other underrepresented class. We value our associates and have won the yearly Healthiest Places to Work and Family Friendly Business awards on multiple occasions. The Reward: Rio Grande provides a generous benefit package for full-time (30+ hours a week) associates that includes: • Medical plan with low premium rates and no high deductible (includes dental and vision) and telemedicine • 401(k) matching program • Paid time-off benefits, plus an additional seven paid holidays • Paid life insurance and optional additional life insurance • Long-term and short-term disability • Flexible spending account • Pet insurance • Tuition reimbursement • On-site gym and company wellness program • Bereavement leave • Employee discounts at Rio Grande • Local and national discounts on various travel and entertainment • Competitive compensation, including an opportunity to share in the profits Our associates strive for joint accountability. We work together for the success of our stakeholders, and we provide a thoughtful, fun, and creative environment to support them. We encourage professional and personal development through a variety of training opportunities and a focus on promoting from within. The Company: Established in 1944, Rio Grande, a Berkshire-Hathaway manufacturer/distributor, has thousands of valued customers around the world. We are a principle-based company with a highly evolved team-based environment. We can show you how a profoundly effective organization lives these values every day. You can find our guiding principles, The 3 R’s, Respect, Responsibility and Results, on our website as well as information about our community support and how we protect the environment. Within our 186,000 sq. ft., solar-powered facility, with covered parking, Rio Grande has sales, marketing, supply chain, IT and administrative offices, a climate-controlled distribution center with more than 40,000 items, and a comprehensive, well-equipped manufacturing operation. Manufactured products include jewelry-making equipment (from basic tools to highly sophisticated induction casting machines) and jewelry components—both die-struck and cast. Capabilities include CAD/CAM, casting, stamp and form, metal finishing, CNC machining, manual milling, tool & die and electronics/mechanical assembly.