SVP Women's
lululemon athletica

Job Type: Full-Time, Permanent
Start Date of Employment (Approx.): As soon as possible
Minimum Education: Bachelor's Degree
Positions Available: 1
NOC: 0016

Job Location(s)
1818 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6J 1E3 Canada

Job Description
The SVP Women’s will lead the design and merchandising functions for the women’s business and will report into the CPO and will be central to our product vision of women; product that combines west coast function with European styling. The role requires a leader who can provide values-oriented leadership.

a day in the life:

• Develops both short and long term product strategy for Women’s business
• Lead the team to develop and drive the achievement of short and long-term financial goals and objectives including sales, gross margin, inventory turn, and bottom line profit.
• Develop and implement strategies designed to optimize inventories through open-to-buy efficiencies with an end goal to improve overall margin (GMROI) performance.
• Broad cross functional collaboration (operations, planning and allocations, brand & community, commercialization, sourcing). Partner with the sourcing team in building relationships with the vendor/supplier community; leverage those relationships to maximize efficiencies in production and overall profitability.
• Fully responsible for product that is consistent with market trends as well as business strategy by providing thought leadership on the Women’s business.

Finer print required:

• Bachelor's degree in Fashion, Design or Textiles as a minimum, preferably a masters in a related field.

• Min 12-15+ years of broad retail experience with particular emphasis on merchandising, design, and process improvement – ideally design trained
• Extensive retail merchandising and design background in a vertically integrated specialty athletic apparel retailer. Knowledge of technical fabrics is required, along with design, product development, multichannel and international experience.
• Excellent taste level with the ability to interpret and fuse current trends in technical and street apparel that appeals to the lululemon guest.
• Solid systems orientation, including strong analytical and assessment capabilities, an ability to create and improve on processes to increase efficiencies and margins, and be able to direct balancing of inventory.
• Exposure to high-quality suppliers and knowledge of international sourcing, track record of partnership with production and sourcing teams.
• Must possess an exceptional eye for color, print, pattern, fit and detail, in addition to extensive experience with a variety of fabrics including woven, knits & technical fabrics.
• Proven leader in managing across functional relationships; can both blend into the company’s corporate culture while at the same time acting as an agent of change for process and system improvement.
• Proven track record running a profitable merch/design department at a VP level and hiring, developing and mentoring teams to accomplish stretch goals. Able to attract, motivate and retain first class talent.

*Comprehensive benefits package including extended medical, dental & disability and performance based bonus available & equity eligibl