Director of Product & Merchandising

Overview

The Director of Product & Merchandising leads optical product strategy and execution across a multi-location organization. This role owns product sourcing, merchandising standards, and enterprise rollout while driving financial performance across revenue, margin, and EBITDA. The ideal candidate brings strong optical expertise, financial discipline, and the ability to translate strategy into consistent field execution.

Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Financial Ownership

• Lead optical assortment strategy across frames, lenses, contact lenses, and product packages
• Own product P&L performance including revenue, margin, COGS, net sales, and EBITDA
• Negotiate vendor pricing, programs, and rebates to optimize margin and profitability
• Drive inventory efficiency through forecasting, inventory turns, and demand planning

Merchandising & Planograms

• Establish and maintain enterprise-wide optical merchandising standards
• Develop and execute planograms, board resets, product refreshes, remodels, and new location setups
• Ensure consistent brand presentation and profitability across all locations

Product Training & Marketing Enablement

• Own optical product training strategy for frames, lenses, contact lenses, and packages
• Partner with Training and Marketing to develop launch playbooks, selling tools, and education materials
• Lead readiness for product refreshes and new releases, ensuring teams are trained and merchandising is executed
• Align product marketing initiatives with assortment changes to drive capture rate, multiple-pair sales, annual supply conversion, margin, and EBITDA

Enterprise Rollout & Execution

• Lead enterprise implementation of new products, pricing strategies, and merchandising initiatives
• Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Finance, Marketing, and field leadership
• Translate strategy into clear execution standards, timelines, and accountability

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in optical, specialty retail, or healthcare retail
• Demonstrated ownership of product P&L including revenue, margin, COGS, and EBITDA
• Strong understanding of optical products including frames, ophthalmic lenses, and contact lenses
• Proven experience with inventory management, forecasting, and improving inventory turns
• Experience leading enterprise-wide product launches and merchandising rollouts
• Strong vendor negotiation, financial analysis, and cross-functional leadership skills
• Ability to translate strategy into clear execution standards for field teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field
• Experience in a multi-location optical organization (20+ locations)
• Hands-on experience with optical planograms, board management, and store remodels
• Experience leading packaged pricing or value-based optical programs
• Strong change-management experience driving adoption in field teams
• Experience partnering closely with Finance on forecasting and EBITDA planning

What Success Looks Like

• Sustained revenue growth with improved margin and EBITDA performance
• Consistent merchandising and planogram execution across all locations
• High product adoption supported by effective training and marketing alignment
• Improved inventory turns, forecasting accuracy, and cash flow efficiency