Company Overview

Fanatics is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise and changing the way fans purchase their favorite team apparel and jerseys. Through an innovative, tech-infused approach to making and selling fan gear in today's on-demand culture, Fanatics operates more than 300 online and offline stores, including the e-commerce business for all major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, MLS, PGA), major media brands (NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports) and more than 200 collegiate and professional team properties, which include several of the biggest global soccer clubs (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City). Fanatics offers the largest collection of timeless and timely merchandise whether shopping online, on your phone, in stores, in stadiums or on-site at the world's biggest sporting events.

About the Team

We are a passionate group of product developers, designers, artists, merchants and planners where art truly meets science. Fanatics Brands is proud to be the largest purveyor of long-term rights and partnerships for all major sports leagues and hundreds of colleges. We are first to market with premium apparel and headwear along with official fan jerseys for the NHL, NBA and NFL. When the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and World Series ends, we are the team running apparel to the players and delivering to fans around the globe. Our commitment to sports doesn’t stop there - we’ve made strategic alliances with Blizzard Entertainment, Disney, Marvel, Lucas Film and Pixar to bring fans an unprecedented assortment. At its core, Fanatics Brands is all about speed and agility. We are built to always respond to the ever-changing sports world.

The VP Merchandising is responsible for leadership, strategic direction and financial performance of Fanatics Brands for the Value and eSports/Gaming categories within the merchandising/product creation function. With the complexity and speed of our business, we need a respected and proven thought leader with a quantifiable track record of success in delivering results within a large complex organization and in new, emerging markets. This requires a Merchandiser who is highly collaborative, builds strong partnerships and can influence change while driving bottom line profits. Strong business acumen, coupled with effective communication skills, will help quickly build credibility and buy-in from internal and external partners, with an understanding of partnering with the supply chain to react quickly to results, and operate across omnichannel platforms.

The VP Merchandising has strong knowledge of the target market to create products customers desire, when they’re most interested in buying them. We are a data driven company and need someone with a rigorous analytic background, an understanding of creating balanced and inspiring assortments, deep insight into trends and the products our customers want to purchase with goal of achieving profitability goals.

This role will report to the Chief Merchant and will work closely with heads of Planning, Marketing, Art/Creative, Licensing/Go To Market, Sourcing/Supply Chain Vendors and other Center of Excellence partners to drive the merchandising strategies to create an exceptional experience for our customers.

What you will be doing…

Owning the strategy and vision of merchandise product creation for Fanatics Brands Value category and eSports/Gaming category, building strong partnerships with eSports Leagues, Publishers and eSports Teams, to develop and execute seasonal buying and promotional plans which meet revenue and gross profit targets.
Overseeing, planning, and directing product creation activities from an omnichannel perspective to include a spectrum of licensing rights (Leagues, Teams, Emerging Sports, Affinity, etc.).
Establishing and executing short-term and long-term financial goals and merchandising objectives.
Providing direction to your team on concept, color direction and price-value relationship to balance the Fanatics Brands, business & customer needs.
Approving product recommendations based on demonstrated knowledge of customer and marketplace.
Analyzing market trends and behavior of competitors to develop product marketing strategies.
Researching customer behavior to determine which products company should offer.
Developing Merchandise Strategy to ensure all key partners understand the merchandising direction and vision. Partner closely with the Supply Chain, Sourcing, Marketing and Art Design teams to provide a world class customer experience.
Creating plans for the introduction and promotion of new products based on the results of customer research.
Championing creativity and innovation in the merchandising process to promote growth, brand development and differentiation.
Cultivating knowledge of market trends and competition to identify key brands and product categories of growth.
Attracting and developing a world class team in a high performance culture and help create an environment that inspires creativity and one that motivates others to achieve excellence.
Establishing product assortment strategies to meet customer demand and maximize sales and profits.

This is someone we can count on to…

Have strong strategic planning abilities with significant P & L responsibility achieving profit margin and inventory turn
Bring many years of experience in retail and apparel industry with extensive knowledge and experience in general merchandising in a multi-location, omni-channel environment
Think differently about new markets such as eSports and gaming to embrace new audience and build a business
Have excellent communication skills (written and verbal skills) as well as leadership and management abilities.
Have good business acumen with a track record of general management experience
To grow a business or division while remaining on-brand, and on -trend
Be comfortable and participate in an analytical and quantitative, data driven environment with mastery of retail math and analytics
Enjoy travel - both domestic and international

Tryouts are open at Fanatics! Our team is passionate, talented, unified, and charged with creating the fan experience of tomorrow. The ball is in your court now.