Manager, Visual Merchandising
Blue Nile · New York City · $100,000–$130,000 (stated in the posting)
Blue Nile is seeking a Manager of Visual Merchandising to define and execute the in-store visual expression of the Blue Nile brand. This role will be responsible for how product is presented, grouped and brought to life across showrooms, ensuring the physical environment makes the assortment easy to understand, inspiring to shop and consistent with Blue Nile's brand point of view.
The Manager will establish product placement, product adjacency and visual presentation standards; partner closely with Store Planning on the physical merchandising of new and existing locations; and develop in-store animations for holidays and key selling periods. The ideal candidate combines strong product and visual instincts with operational discipline and the ability to translate merchandising strategy into clear, executable standards for retail teams.
Responsibilities - Product Placement, Adjacencies & Visual Presentation Standards:
- Own product placement and visual merchandising standards across Blue Nile showrooms, translating merchandising strategy into clear in-store presentation.
- Develop product adjacency strategies that create intuitive customer journeys and reinforce the role of key jewelry categories, collections and customer occasions.
- Establish standards for case layouts, product density, focal points, storytelling moments and the balance of core product and newness.
- Create scalable visual guidelines and planograms that enable retail teams to execute consistently while accommodating differences in store footprint and assortment.
- Partner with Category Management to understand product priorities, hero products, launches and assortment architecture and translate them into compelling physical presentation.
- Regularly review showroom execution and evolve standards based on customer behavior, commercial priorities and assortment changes.
- Ensure the in-store presentation is elevated, intentional and distinctly Blue Nile, helping Client Advisors tell clear product stories and enabling customers to navigate the assortment with confidence.
Responsibilities - Store Planning Partnership:
- Partner closely with Store Planning to ensure merchandising needs are incorporated into new stores, remodels, relocations and fixture updates.
- Provide the merchandising point of view on fixture placement, case allocation, sightlines, customer flow, category zoning and flexible merchandising capacity.
- Translate assortment requirements into physical space needs and recommend how selling space should be allocated across categories and product stories.
- Review store plans and layouts through a merchandising lens to ensure the environment supports customer discovery, selling behaviors and evolving assortment priorities.
- Identify opportunities to improve existing store layouts and fixture utilization based on changes in the assortment, customer needs and business priorities.
- Collaborate with Retail, Store Planning, Creative, Operations and Merchandising to ensure store concepts can be executed consistently and maintained effectively.
Responsibilities - In-Store Animations, Holidays & Key Selling Periods:
- Develop the visual merchandising strategy and in-store animations for holidays, gifting moments, launches and key selling periods.
- Translate seasonal merchandising priorities into clear product stories, focal moments and presentation direction for showrooms.
- Partner with Creative, Marketing and Category Management to align campaign storytelling, product priorities and the in-store customer experience.
- Create visual toolkits that specify product placement, display direction, signage integration and execution standards for each activation.
- Build a calendar of visual merchandising changes aligned with commercial priorities and key retail moments.
- Partner with Retail Operations to plan execution timing, communication and field implementation.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of animations and incorporate learnings into future visual direction.
Responsibilities - Cross-Functional Partnership & Execution:
- Act as the connective partner across Merchandising, Category Management, Retail, Store Planning, Creative, Marketing and Operations for the physical product experience.
- Translate merchandising priorities into simple, actionable direction that retail teams can execute consistently.
- Develop visual standards, guides and communication materials that clearly define both the intention and the execution.
- Partner with Retail leadership and field teams to identify execution challenges and continuously improve standards and tools.
- Manage multiple visual workstreams and deadlines while maintaining a high level of detail, consistency and follow-through.
- Champion an elevated customer experience while balancing aesthetic standards with practical store operations and selling needs.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Visual Merchandising, Merchandising, Design, Retail, Marketing or a related field.
- 5-8+ years of progressive visual merchandising experience, ideally within jewelry, luxury, fashion, specialty retail or another product-led retail environment.
- Strong visual and product sensibility with demonstrated experience creating compelling product presentations and customer journeys.
- Experience developing product placement, adjacency strategies, planograms and scalable visual standards across multiple stores.
- Experience partnering with Store Planning, Retail Design or Store Development on new and existing store environments.
- Demonstrated experience developing seasonal, promotional or holiday visual merchandising programs.
- Strong understanding of how visual merchandising supports customer engagement, Client Advisor selling and commercial priorities.
- Excellent project management, communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Ability to translate creative and merchandising concepts into clear, operationally executable direction.
- Strong attention to detail with the ability to balance brand standards, customer experience and store practicality.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and seasonal deadlines #LI-WK1 #LI-WK1
Benefits
At Blue Nile, many of our roles offer a high-quality, comprehensive benefits package including healthcare, paid time off, retirement planning and opportunities for career advancement. Some offerings are dependent upon the role, employment type, work schedule or location:
- Paid Time Off
- Competitive Employee Discount
- Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Plan with Company Match
- Flexible Spending Account
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Parental Leave
- Life Insurance
Annual base pay: $100,000 - $130,000. Final pay rate shall be determined and is based on experience and qualifications.
At this time, Blue Nile will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.
Additional Information: Blue Nile is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender reassignment, citizenship, immigration status, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited under applicable federal, state or local law. Blue Nile will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws #LI-WK1
#LI-WK1