Director, Global Product & Merchandising - Li

The Director, Global Product & Merchandising will lead global product strategy, merchandising, seasonal commercialization, and product lifecycle management for Gibson’s growing lifestyle business across apparel, headwear, accessories, and future consumer categories, including bags, home/office products, collectibles, and other lifestyle extensions.

This leader will translate Gibson’s iconic heritage, craftsmanship, artists, and cultural influence into premium, commercially compelling global assortments that strengthen the brand and drive growth across direct-to-consumer (DTC) and traditional wholesale channels. The role will lead product and merchandising strategies across Gibson’s DTC business, including e-commerce and owned retail, while leveraging significant wholesale expertise to build strategic retail partnerships across department stores, specialty retailers, and other key global distribution channels.

Working across Gibson’s internal business units and a network of world-class external product manufacturing partners, the Director will serve as the central cross-functional leader responsible for bringing products from concept through commercialization. This individual will partner closely with Design, Marketing, Sales, Licensing, Legal, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership to deliver global assortments that achieve brand, consumer, channel, revenue, margin, and profitability objectives while maintaining Gibson’s premium positioning and long-term brand strategy.

The Director will also lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Product Management and Merchandising team, fostering accountability, collaboration, operational excellence, and career development. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in global product management and merchandising, wholesale and DTC businesses, multi-category product creation, financial and commercial management, and team leadership within premium global consumer lifestyle brands. 

Essential Functions

Global Product Strategy

• Develop the three-to-five-year global product roadmap for Lifestyle. 
• Create seasonal merchandising strategies across all lifestyle categories. 
• Identify whitespace opportunities and adjacent product categories. 
• Build global assortment strategies by channel, region, consumer, and price architecture. 
• Develop Better / Best / Pinnacle product strategies that support both premium positioning and commercial growth. 
• Partner with leadership to define long-term category expansion priorities. 

Merchandising & Product Line Management

Own the seasonal product architecture across categories including Apparel, Headwear and Accessories (Bags, Leather Goods, Jewelry, Drinkware, Home, Collectibles) 

Responsibilities include:

• Seasonal line plans 
• SKU architecture 
• Assortment planning 
• Pricing strategy 
• Margin optimization 
• Collection storytelling 
• Product lifecycle management 
• Product briefs and commercialization plans 

Wholesale Strategy & Retail Partnerships

• Develop and execute global wholesale strategies that launch and scale Gibson Lifestyle’s presence across department stores, specialty retailers, premium boutiques, and other strategic wholesale accounts in the U.S. and international markets.
• Build and manage strategic retail partnerships, serving as a senior business leader with key accounts to establish distribution strategies, negotiate commercial opportunities, develop assortments, and drive sustainable revenue and margin growth.
• Leverage deep knowledge of wholesale retail dynamics to identify high-value distribution opportunities, optimize account segmentation and door strategies, and ensure Gibson product assortments are appropriately positioned by retailer, channel, geography, and consumer.
• Partner closely with Marketing, Sales and Operations to develop compelling wholesale line plans, seasonal assortments, pricing architectures, sell-in strategies, and account-specific initiatives that maximize both retailer productivity and Gibson’s financial performance.
• Establish and scale wholesale operating processes and performance metrics, including sales forecasting, open-to-buy alignment, sell-in and sell-through analysis, inventory management, account profitability, and seasonal business reviews, to drive continuous improvement across the global wholesale business.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Serve as the primary cross-functional business partner connecting Lifestyle with key Gibson organizations, partnering with each of the following including:

Global Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)

• Build exclusive product strategies
• Optimize assortments by sales channel 
• Improve online conversion through merchandising 
• Support retail store product planning 
• Analyze consumer purchasing behavior to improve future assortments

Global Marketing

• Collaborate on seasonal campaign planning
• Develop integrated product launch strategies 
• Align merchandising stories with marketing content, artist partnerships, events, and brand initiatives 
• Support retail marketing, digital storytelling, and consumer engagement 

Global Instruments Product Division

• Identify opportunities to translate instrument innovation, craftsmanship, finishes, artist collections and product launches into compelling lifestyle products
• Align seasonal launches with new instrument introductions and key brand initiatives
• Ensure Lifestyle products authentically reflect Gibson’s instrument heritage

Licensing

• Develop commercially viable licensed product programs
• Ensure product consistency across licensees
• Evaluate new licensing opportunities
• Support collaborative product development with strategic brand partners 
• Maintain premium brand positioning across all licensed categories

Legal

• Review product approvals
• Support licensing agreements 
• Ensure trademark compliance 
• Protect Gibson intellectual property 
• Manage product compliance and contractual obligations throughout development

External Product Creation Leadership

Serve as Gibson's primary business lead with external product creation partners responsible for design, sourcing, development, manufacturing, and commercialization.

Responsibilities include:

• Managing strategic product development partners
• Leading seasonal product creation calendars
• Reviewing concepts and prototypes
• Driving product quality and innovation
• Managing commercialization timelines
• Ensuring brand consistency across all product categories
• Coordinating manufacturing readiness and launch execution

Consumer & Marketplace Insights

• Monitor consumer trends
• Analyze competitive brands 
• Conduct retail intelligence 
• Evaluate emerging product categories 
• Utilize sales analytics to improve future assortments 
• Recommend opportunities based on market insights and consumer behavior 

Financial Ownership

• Revenue forecasting 
• Margin planning 
• Category profitability 
• SKU productivity 
• Inventory optimization 
• Seasonal sales planning 
• Product performance analytics 
• Business case development for new product initiatives 

Team Leadership (Product Management and Merchandising direct reports):

• Provide coaching and professional development
• Delegate seasonal product ownership
• Manage workload prioritization
• Develop merchandising and product management capabilities
• Create a high-performing, collaborative team culture
• Build scalable processes to support continued organizational growth 

Leadership Competencies

• Consumer-first mindset 
• Strategic commercial thinking 
• Exceptional product instincts 
• Strong merchandising judgment 
• Financial discipline 
• Executive communication skills 
• Cross-functional influence without direct authority 
• Entrepreneurial mindset balanced with operational excellence 
• Passion for music, culture, craftsmanship, and premium consumer brands 

Required Skills/Abilities

• 10-15+ years of Product Management and Merchandising experience within premium global consumer-based lifestyle brands. 
• Minimum of 10 years of experience developing and managing traditional wholesale sales strategies and operations, with significant responsibility for retail partnerships, including department stores, within the lifestyle, apparel, footwear, accessories, or related consumer goods sectors.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience managing direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels, including e-commerce, owned retail, customer acquisition, and consumer engagement strategies within the lifestyle, apparel, footwear, accessories, or related consumer goods sectors.
• Minimum of 5 years managing a team (5+direct reports) across product management, merchandising, marketing, operations and other functions.
• Demonstrated success managing global product assortments across multiple product categories. 
• Experience working cross-functionally with Design, Marketing, Sales, Licensing, Legal, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership. 
• Strong financial and commercial acumen. 
• Experience managing external product development or sourcing partners. 
• Exceptional organizational, communication, and presentation skills.

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in fashion merchandising, design, marketing, business management or equivalent degree or related work experience

Essential Knowledge

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Project management skills combined with ability to work as part of a team

Personal Qualities 

• Passionate about working and winning in a team environment
• Results oriented and driven, with a track record for delivering to plan
• Flexibility to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Able to proactively question and challenge to prioritize and identify solutions in a timely manner
• Clear and logical thinker 
• Relish working in a company with a diverse, challenging, and fast paced environment

Travel Requirements

• This position is mostly office based, but will involve 25% travel

Physical Demands

• Typical office environment 
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds