at Ace Hardware in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States
Job Description
The Merchant is responsible for all aspects of Ace and Emery Jensen Distribution (EJD) assortment strategy, development and execution through to retail for a respective category. This responsibility spans both B2C and B2B customer types. The position provides leadership within the organization via a thorough understanding of the competitive marketplace and trends, opportunities for Ace retailers and EJD customers to grow via differentiated assortment and ability to articulate and drive an action plan to execute.
The Merchant – role is the core of driving the company’s promise of delivering consumer relevant, high quality, differentiated, localized assortments to Ace retailers and wholesale customers at the lowest cost.
What you’ll do
Strategy and Business Planning
+ Identify opportunities within strategic planning process to grow respective category in terms of sales and gross profit
+ Present plan to leadership for support and revisit throughout the year to report progress and shifts in execution
+ Manage category growth plan for Ace and EJD while achieving SKU productivity and ACENET Direct goals.
+ Manage highly complex categories and execution (Level 3 POG) requiring cross-functional support
Category Reviews
+ Determine category selection and goals for assortments (both B2B and B2C)
+ Determine vendor selection and lead all negotiation and program syncs on behalf of Ace and EJD
+ Lead wholesale and retail assortment and merchandising aides with category management and store development
+ Understand and drive regional needs of category and build into category deliverables on an ongoing basis
+ Develop execution plan via incentives and marketing to drive adoption at retail
+ Negotiate Price and Program for all vendors in the department
Promotional Planning
+ Plan and negotiate all vendor marketing assessments
+ Develop monthly promotional schedule of advertised categories/items across all mediums to drive awareness and increased transactions at retail
+ Identify items, negotiate special pricing and terms, develop a retail placement and execution strategy, and present items to the promotions team for selection
+ Oversee all promotional item submission forms, target pricing, correction notices and AD proofing
Retailer Communication
+ Attend retailer group meetings and targeted retail store visits
+ Utilize ACENET to communicate new programs, changes or issues
+ Coordinate with Merch CARE to prep Ace Care Center for calls and e-mails related to respective category
Convention Planning
+ Select vendors to attend semi-annual convention
+ Plan and execute all vendor programs including drop ship forms, Power Buys, Saving Showcase and New Arrivals
+ Plan merchant area theme and execution for respective category
Inventory/Supply Chain Support
+ Assist in diagnosing and resolving vendor service issues
+ Assist in inventory planning for promotional items
Financial Management
+ Manage and grow wholesale product gross profit rate via vendor extraneous income and SAP conditions
+ Negotiate and maintain New Store Allowance agreements
+ Manage liability fund to fund category growth initiatives
+ Develop and present annual sales and liability budgets
What you will need:
Knowledge, Experience, and Competencies:
Ace Merchant Competencies
+ Product passion - Natural and fanatical curiosity around product and retail marketplace, demonstrated and put into action. Convertible to multiple categories based on changes in responsibilities.
+ Strategic thinking - Ability to envision, create and present strategy to drive disruptive wholesale and/or retail growth in category sales and profit
+ Results-oriented - Ability to drive results to and above plan with full accountability, proactively shifting efforts as trends and business variables change
+ Leadership - Demonstrated and active leadership across the organization, vendors and retailers as authority in respective category. Superior problem-solving skills.
+ Negotiation skills - Superior negotiation skills with proven results leveraging company scale, business drivers and strategies
+ Presentation skills - Ability to plan, assemble and present with excellence strategy, execution and updates to leadership, across the organization, vendors and retailers
Experience and Technical Requirements:
+ 4+ years of business experience
+ 2+ years managing product categories
+ Strong problem-solving skills required
+ Strong interpersonal skills required
+ Understand financial measures that impacts corporation
+ Demonstrate strong decision-making skills
+ Highly creative, flexible and adaptable with good follow-through
+ Versatility to shift category responsibility every 1-2 years
+ Proven ability to multi-task projects and meet deadlines
+ Strong verbal and written communication skills
+ Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, Power Point,
+ Knowledge of PCM, SAP and guided Ad-hoc reporting tools
+ Ability to travel 25%
\#LI-CK1
Compensation Details:
$98500 – $123000 Per Year
Why should you join our team?
We live our values – W.E.L.I.G.H.T (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility, and Teamwork). Gratitude. Humility. Love. You don’t often see values like these in most corporate statements, but Ace is different. These things are important to us. They represent our commitment to the company, our employees, to Ace retailers and to the Ace brand.
In addition to providing our employees a great culture, Ace also offers competitive benefits* that address life’s necessities and perks, many of which expand and improve year after year, including:
+ Incentive opportunities, based on role/grade level (rapid company growth over the past 5 years resulted in incentives being paid out at an average of 126% of your target opportunity!)
+ Generous 401(k) retirement savings plan with company contributions, averaging 9.6% per year of eligible earnings over the past 5 years
+ Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, vision and disability – up to 26 weeks short-term disability and long-term disability) & life insurance benefits for you and your dependents
+ 21 days of vacation immediately available (prorated in the first year) and up to 6 paid holidays depending on the month of hire
+ Company Car, phone and fuel card are provided for field-based positions
+ Your career at Ace is more than just a job. It’s a chance to be part of something meaningful. We help locally-owned businesses thrive and make an impact in their communities – and we support our employees in doing the same by offering an annual Ace Cares Week, 20 hours off work per year to volunteer at an organization of your choice, opportunities to help Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and the Ace Helpful Fund through the Ace Foundation
+ Ace invests in every employee we hire, with a key focus on development and coaching. We offer on-site classes, facilitator-led courses, and a generous tuition assistance program, plus a performance management approach that goes beyond the typical annual review
+ We know the work environment matters. That’s why Ace holds frequent campus events like Employee Appreciation Week, vendor demos, cookouts, and merchandise sales
+ We bring them to you! Services such as mobile spas, auto maintenance, car wash and detailing, dry cleaning, dentists, eye doctors, flu shots, recycling and more!
+ Employee discounts on Ace merchandise (including top brands like Weber, Traeger, Yeti, Craftsman, DeWalt and more), travel, fitness, computers and thousands more
+ Birth/Adoption bonding paid time off
+ Adoption cost reimbursement
+ Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – access to free visits
