Director, Merchandising Assortment Planning

At National Vision we believe everyone deserves to see their best to live their best. We help people by making quality eye care and eyewear more affordable and accessible. National Vision is one of the largest optical retail companies in the United States, with over 1,200 stores. We operate four retail brands: America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, Eyeglass World, and Vista Optical inside select Fred Meyer stores and on select military bases. We offer an innovative culture where training is a priority, hard work is praised, and career growth is a reality.

We are hiring for a Director, Merchandising Assortment Planning, to join our growing team!

This role owns an end-to-end frame assortment strategy across all channels, ensuring alignment with product vision and financial objectives. This role blends data-driven decision-making with consumer insights to deliver compelling assortments that maximize profitability and enhance customer experience.

What Would You Do? The Specifics.

• Lead annual and seasonal assortment planning, including brand mix architecture, style mix, price-point strategy, productivity targets, and lifecycle management, and incorporating consumer insights, macro trends and historical performance
• Leverage forecasting tools and historical performance to optimize product mix, inventory, and lifecycle management.
• Define SKU rationalization and exit strategies for underperforming products
• Integrate digital and in-store strategies for a seamless customer experience.
• Continually optimize store segmentation models that inform the ideal assortment by store using demographic, psychographic and market data
• Develop localized assortments that reflect customer profiles, regional preferences, climate-driven sunwear needs, and brand relevance
• Own inventory strategy across all frame categories, balancing assortment breadth with depth and productivity
• Establish and manage replenishment logistics, including minimum stock, presentation standards and automation rules
• Align inventory buys with assortment strategy, productivity goals and financial targets
• Ensure stores have the right levels of product on hand to meet demand while minimizing overstock and aging inventory
• Drive improvements in turns, in-stock rates, weeks of supply
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Collaborate with Product, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance to ensure cohesive execution.
• Data and Performance Analysis
• Analyze performance across stores, brands and SKUs to inform assortment, inventory and exit strategies
• Responsible for Brand KPIs like margin, sell-through, turns, in-stock rates, aged inventory, conversion of frames
• Use data to continuously refine assortment and inventory effectiveness
• Build and lead a team across assortment planning, inventory management and replenishment
• Develop talent, foster analytical and strategic thinking, and create a culture of curiosity, accountability and continuous improvement

Work Experience

• 9+ years optical experience (required).
• 9+ years in merchandising or assortment planning with leadership experience (required).
• Several years in a management role (required).

Education

• Four-year college degree or equivalent experience. Bachelor’s degree in business, merchandising, finance, or a related field (required).
• Master's Degree MBA (preferred).

Additional Skills

• Expertise in planning systems (e.g., JDA, Manhattan) and strong analytical skills (required).
• Experience Optimizing assortment and inventory for a large fleet (300+ stores) (preferred).
• Proven ability to manage complex assortments across multiple channels (required).
• Strong analytical ability, including experience with forecasting, demand planning, and BI tools (required).
• Strong cross-functional leadership and executive communication skills (required).
• Experience in optical, fashion, or specialty retail (preferred).
• Background managing both branded and private-label portfolios (preferred).
• Travel quarterly to trade shows (required).

Taking Care of Our People!

We understand the importance of financial health and security, and because of that, we provide competitive compensation to all associates. We also offer a comprehensive benefits package including health and dental insurance, 401k retirement savings with company match, flex spending account, paid personal time off, paid company holidays, parental leave, employee eyewear discount, and much, much more. At National Vision, we strive to deliver opportunities for professional growth and long-term career fulfillment. We provide training programs and access to educational courses and pride ourselves on the ever-increasing amount of promotions from within.

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We are an equal opportunity employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.