The Vice President, Retail Experience contributes to the company’s success by providing leadership and strategic direction to optimize store design, space planning and the visual experience globally. Based out of our New York office and reporting to the Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker & Champs Sports NA GM, this is a strategic and collaborative leader who drives plans, leads project management efforts, and designs processes to ensure successful visual merchandising execution; including store design, space planning, in-store visuals, and other key initiatives to effectively drive growth, (margin) through the evolution of the customer experience through the lens of retail stores. This executive is responsible for establishing best-in-class Visual Merchandising processes for the company and creating a modern Store Design, Visual Merchandising and Space Planning Center of Excellence across all business units and channels of distribution.
ResponsibilitiesStore Design/Visual Experience
Optimize positioning of the organization’s NA retail locations by analyzing existing store design prototypes and creating new designs to inspire memorable in-store and digital customer experiences. Orchestrate and drive the successful and timely design of construction projects in collaboration with other internal stakeholders to achieve the business goals, while ensuring timeline and forecasted budget are met. Collaborate cross-functionally with Corporate and Division teams to gain an understanding of operational needs of Foot Locker’s portfolio of brands to update and refresh store designs. Define and establish visual merchandising standards, guidelines, and best practices for all retail stores, e-comm platforms and other customer touchpoints. Conduct regular store visits to ensure consistent implementation of visual merchandising standards, providing feedback and recommendations for improvement. Partner with external vendors, agencies, and creative teams to develop visual merchandising materials, displays, and fixtures that are both aesthetically appealing and functional. Analyze category performance and use industry trends to understand future market potential. Leverage consumer data to guide visual merchandising strategies as well as decision making across all channels of business. Partner with the field teams to support the execution of visual merchandising presentation, and seasonal direction. Analyze key performance indicators (KPIs), such as sales data, customer feedback, and market trends, to assess the effectiveness of visual merchandising strategies and make data-driven recommendations for improvement. Monitor and adjust in-season presentation, as needed. Determine vision and functional strategy for Merchandising business processes design and system capabilities as they relate to and impact corporate goals. Integrate processes and systems to optimize consistency, space utilization, and in-store presentation.
Space Planning
Establish effective and best practice space planning & visual merchandising processes to enable successful execution of functional activities to maximize resources, sales, and margin performance. Develop long-term global space planning and visual merchandising plans that are consistent with the company’s long-term plans and annual objectives. Develop short-term and long-term strategies that connect to the Company’s financial plan. Create action plans with cross-functional leaders around space allocation and planning; in-store visual experience and store design. Create and lead seasonal, annual, and long-range strategic and financial planning across a wide array of customer, and merchandising segments. Oversee the design and layout of stores, ensuring efficient use of space, traffic flow optimization, and product accessibility. Work closely with the product merchant team to provide input on product presentation, packaging, and visual elements that enhance the overall customer experience. Stay abreast of industry trends, competitor activities, and emerging technologies in visual merchandising, incorporating innovative concepts and techniques into our strategies. Support the CMO in presenting to various strategic meetings for the division.
Department & Cross-Functional Leadership
Partner cross functionally with Marketing, Store Operations, Planning & Allocation and other functional areas to drive overall business performance. Mentor, train and develop the Store Design, Space Planning & Visual Merchandising team. Provide challenging opportunities to leverage strengths and improve abilities. Offer support, feedback and coaching to build future leaders. Exercise high EQ to navigate complex organizational structures, collaborate to get buy-in across functions, diplomatically challenge the status-quo, and solidify relationships with a broad group of people. Qualifications 10+ years of Space Planning/Visual Merchandising experience including management, space planning tools, in-store customer experience, store design and analysis. 10+ years of progressive corporate management experience with a large omni-channel retailer in merchandising, information technology, or retail operations. Experience leading a team at the VP level at a retailer of scale, ideally well over $1 billion in volume. Strong cross-functional partnership skill sets, including a track record of working closely with merchandising/CX teams to set and execute against divisional strategy. Strong understanding of branding, marketing principles, and consumer behavior. Demonstrated ability to develop and execute innovative visual merchandising strategies that drive customer engagement and sales. Exceptional creativity and an eye for design, with the ability to translate brand identity into compelling visual narratives. Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and meet deadlines. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across various departments and influence stakeholders at all levels. Proficiency in using space planning and visual merchandising software, store design tools, and technology platforms. Exceptional analytical skill sets and a high level of detail-orientation.
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BenefitsThe annual base salary range is $250,000 - $280,000 / year. This range represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary for this position. This role is also eligible to receive short term incentives that align with individual and company performance. Salary will be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data. Salary is one component of the Foot Locker, Inc. total compensation package, which includes the below.
Foot Locker Benefits:
Employee Discount Paid Time Off Medical | Dental | Vision Coverage 401(k) | Roth 401(k) Stock Purchase Plan Life Insurance Flexible Spending Account Opportunities for Advancement Tuition Reimbursement for Qualified Courses Strong Company Culture Employee Resource Groups Connect With Foot Locker Not ready to apply? Connect with Foot Locker for periodic updates about our stores, brands and career opportunities!