Senior Director Merchandising Operations

Overview

The Senior Director, Merchandising Operations role at Staples is located in Framingham, MA. The person in this role leads the development and execution of critical capabilities that enable high performance across the merchandising organization. This cross-functional position oversees item management, business processes, systems management and enablement, assortment planning strategy, and data & reporting.

Responsibilities

• Own the item lifecycle process, including item setup, maintenance, and retirement. Ensure data accuracy, process efficiency, and system alignment across merchandising.
• Design and enforce standardized processes for item creation that balance speed-to-market with data accuracy and cross-functional needs.
• Partner with SDS (IT) to use AI/ML to scale reporting infrastructure and data feeds to unlock deeper insights into assortment.
• Partner with SDS and Product teams to drive automation, workflow improvements, and reducing manual work across the item setup ecosystem.
• Oversee systems onboarding, training, and ongoing user enablement, ensuring all merchant teams are equipped to fully leverage tools and platforms.
• Support merchant teams with tools, data, and frameworks that improve assortment planning and decision-making. Develop templates and planning calendars that drive consistency across desks.
• Collaborate with digital, private brands and search teams to integrate conversion goals and customer insights into the assortment strategy.
• Lead communication with the merchant community and senior merchandising leaders (GMMs). Translate business challenges into operational initiatives—connecting execution details with strategy to ensure clarity, speed, and impact.
• Oversee development of BI dashboards and self-serve reporting tools within Sigma that inform assortment, financial, and operational decisions. Drive reporting automation, improve data visualization, and reduce manual reporting tasks; partner with merchants to collect input, improve usage, and train on the new toolset.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Business, Analytics, Marketing, Economics or related field OR equivalent work experience.
• 10+ years in merchandising operations, business intelligence, planning or retail strategy.
• Strong understanding of retail and digital merchandising processes, product lifecycles, and assortment planning.
• Strong background in item management.
• Experience in BI/reporting tools, advanced Excel and data analysis skills. Experience with Sigma is a plus.
• Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and leadership presence.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment while building scalable solutions for the future.
• Demonstrated ability to partner cross-functionally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in an omni-channel or digitally native retail environment.
• Proven ability to lead through influence and act as a connector across business and technical teams.
• Strong change management and process reengineering experience.

Employment details

• Seniority level: Director
• Employment type: Full-time
• Job function: Marketing and Sales
• Industries: Retail Office Equipment