Job Description
Director of Visual Merchandising at Russell Tobin Director of Visual Merchandising at Russell Tobin in Long Island City, New York Posted in 11 days ago.
Type:
full-time Job Description:
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Visual Merchandising Strategy & Execution Develop and implement a cohesive global visual merchandising strategy that communicates brand story, elevates product presentation, and drives client engagement across all retail formats. Create seasonal VM guidelines, window concepts, interior installations, and case layouts for flagships, boutiques, department store shop-in-shops, and pop-up activations. Partner with store design and construction teams on fixture development, material selection, lighting direction, and spatial planning for new store openings and renovations. Oversee the creation of VM toolkits and training materials to ensure consistent, on-brand execution across all locations and markets. Lead and inspire a team of regional VM managers and field coordinators, providing creative direction, performance feedback, and professional development. Merchandising & Assortment Planning Own the end-to-end merchandising strategy across all product categories - fine jewelry, high jewelry, watches, and accessories - ensuring assortments are commercially optimized and brand-appropriate. Collaborate with the design and product development teams to influence collection architecture, pricing tiers, and product adjacencies based on retail performance insights. Develop and manage seasonal buy strategies in partnership with planning and allocation teams, balancing core replenishment with newness and limited-edition capsule introductions. Analyze sell-through, stock turn, and margin performance by category, door, and channel; provide actionable recommendations to optimize inventory health and profitability. Build and maintain assortment matrices that reflect the unique client profile and commercial opportunity of each tier of distribution. Retail & Commercial Partnership Act as a key commercial partner to the retail leadership team, providing merchandising insight to support sales planning, clienteling initiatives, and seasonal forecasting. Collaborate with E-commerce and Digital teams to ensure online product sequencing, imagery, and storytelling are aligned with in-store strategies. Partner with the Marketing and Events teams to align VM and assortment strategies with campaign calendars, press moments, and high jewelry events. Support wholesale account teams with tailored assortment recommendations, VM direction, and sell-in materials for key department store and specialty retail partners. People Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of visual merchandisers and merchandising managers; cultivate a culture of creativity, accountability, and continuous improvement. Foster strong cross-functional relationships with Design, Finance, Supply Chain, Retail Operations, and Marketing to ensure alignment across all commercial decisions. Present seasonal strategies, performance recaps, and business cases to executive leadership and key stakeholders with clarity and commercial acumen.
