Zola is looking for a smart, driven, & detail-oriented Associate Category Manager to join our merchandising team who wants to build on their existing experience to help drive success for the Paper business. This person is responsible for developing & implementing a strategy to drive their category of business, & execute tasks such as business analytics, assortment strategy, sourcing new vendors, vertical product development collaboration with Design, site merchandising expertise to maximize sales & help achieve financial objectives.  

This role will report into the VP of Merchandising & will lead their area of business within Zola Registry. He/she will provide rigorous & thoughtful analyses & a very high level of cross functional partnership with internal business functions such as Design, Creative Operations, & (Digital) Product Management, & Strategic Growth to drive short-term & long-term business decisions. This role is ideal for someone with a solid background in vertical Merchandising within the Stationery category of business, looking for broad & challenging responsibilities & leadership opportunities. Our team offers a fast-paced, high-growth environment that values leadership, adaptability, & communication.  

RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Create a clear strategic vision for your product categories that supports the overall objectives of Zola Registry
• Manage & grow your business against an aggressive sales plan; identify & execute on developing a best-in-class assortment offering across a range of designs that serve our couples needs
• Partner with Planning to inform goals/targets for Creative to deliver a high quantity of new designs while maintaining a high level of average productivity per design
• Support Operations to explore potential new relationships
• Manage & optimize the partnership with Suppliers to maximize opportunities, minimize costs, & troubleshoot technical roadblocks as we expand capabilities 
• Develop strategy & execute site merchandising changes to drive to company goals
• Contribute new ideas for the growth of the business & work with the product & engineering team to implement improvements to the shopping experience
• Perform thoughtful competitive market research to identify important trends & translate to be appropriate design requests for the Zola assortment
• Participate in or lead cross functional initiatives to support & execute company-wide goals

QUALIFICATIONS

• 3+ years of experience in buying (e-commerce specific and/or Stationery experience is a plus)
• Strong product sensibility & demonstrated ability to identify emerging trends
• Exceptional track record of presentation, negotiation, & relationship management skills
• Ability to perform data analysis to identify actionable insights for both assortment strategy & site merchandising
• Deep understanding of or passion for new technologies & familiarity with competitive e-commerce landscape
• Demonstrated talent for product assortment strategy & driving margin growth
• Deep understanding of & experience with retail financials & goal setting
• Strong team orientation, collaborative, cooperative work style
• Strong adaptability, flexibility & willingness to change strategies as business needs dictate
• Strong written & verbal communication skills & attention to detail

The salary range for this position is $70,000-80,000

ABOUT ZOLA

We're Zola, the wedding company that will do anything for love. We're reinventing the wedding planning & registry experience to make the happiest moment in our couples lives even happier. From engagement to wedding & decorating your first home, Zola is there, combining compassionate customer service with modern tools & technology all in the service of love. 

We built our entire platform from the ground-up in 2013, & quickly became the fastest-growing wedding company in the country. Our team has deep experience creating award-winning online & mobile products that are helpful, intuitive, & simply magical. Were proud to have investor partners including Female Founders Fund, Comcast Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Canvas Ventures, Thrive Capital & Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others. 

We are passionate about supporting all forms of love, & were proud of our thriving community of over 2 million couples. We strive to hire a team that is as beautifully diverse as the couples getting married today, & we encourage individuals from every race, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, marital status, religion & perspective to apply. Zola will always be a place where every employee, couple, wedding guest, wedding vendor, & partner will be respected & accepted & valued. 

Our headquarters are in NYC, & we have offices in Charlottesville & Montreal. Come work with us!