Contract Retail Specialist

JOB TITLE: Contract Retail Specialist

POSITION TYPE: Full-time, Exempt

REPORTS TO: Director, Retail Experience 

JOB SUMMARY: Contract Retail specialist  is responsible for supporting the Retail, Photo, and Food & Beverage programs at OGX. As the business evolves and grows, additional product revenue streams and offerings may be implemented and fall under this department as part of the Guest Experience team. 

About Original X Productions Original X Productions are the operators of premiere worldwide location-based entertainment experiences including The FRIENDS™ Experience and Hershey Super Sweet Adventure. Our team are guest experience focused storytellers who are passionate, strive for excellence, committed to safety, and value fun in everything they do!

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES (include but are not limited to):

• Identify and drive existing and new revenue stream opportunities and strategies for implementation.

• Support retail and ancillary partner identification, contracting, management & obligations, ensuring business and revenue optimization of product offerings.

• Support inventory management, product programming, and maintenance including planning for new markets and new IP projects.

• Support all workflows to build and manage effective product line strategies, ensuring best-in-class guest satisfaction and in turn revenue generation; product testing in market as required.

• Manage internal and external licensor deadlines, approvals and comms related to product development and merchandising as per contractual requirements; assess any potential cross promotional opportunities as they arise 

• Collaborate across departments on ideas and opportunities to optimize the business and guest experience, specifically product campaigns, promos, ticket offerings, and supplementary sales opportunities 

• Support operating standards to include product flow planning and execution, seasonal promotions and markdowns, marketing initiatives and overall visual presentation.

• Perform pricing research and analysis; track competition and pricing trends.

• Perform vendor analysis for specific events and present recommendations.

• Perform data analysis for retail operations; including overall operating costs, program ROI analysis, and KPI performance.

• Consult on retail and ancillary layouts for on site experiences

• Complete periodic on site check-ins during run of show to ensure optimal performance; troubleshooting as required.

• Maintain required product and merchandising budgeting, forecasting (including re-forecasts), accruals and variance analysis, sales trends, invoicing/billing, and other required product financial management as needed by finance.

• Maintain and follow workflow streams, including workbacks related to operating retail and ancillary merchandising on site (ordering, load in/out, product updates & campaigns) and new product launches (concept to delivery).

• Identify workflow opportunities and efficiencies to facilitate collaborative output across departments

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Proactive product & project timeline management.
• Strong understanding of store retail, food & beverage, and photo functions, including strategy, financial planning, product sourcing, assortment planning, promotional planning, and pricing as well as a strong understanding of the full product life cycle.
• Strong understanding of supplier, distributor, and logistics processes and key performance indicators.
• Advanced ability to plan, estimate, organize, and monitor projects.
• Leverages vendor, supplier, customer, market, and industry understanding to drive Merchandising-related decisions and recommendations.
• Excellent communications, collaboration, follow-up and analytical skills.
• Ability to work independently without close supervision.
• Previous experience working with branded intellectual property and partner guidelines.
• Ability to plan, organize and prioritize multiple objectives simultaneously.
• Curious and open to adopting new ways of thinking and eager to learn new skills.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong retail experience with demonstrated understanding of the business
• 3-5 years of experience in corporate merchandising, planning and buying
• Experience working with intellectual property (IP) partners on submissions, production samples, approvals, etc.
• Demonstrated excellence with project management is required; budgeting/financial management is preferred
• Excellent communication skills; both verbal and written
• Extremely detail and service oriented
• Excellent organization and problem-solving skills
• Able to build and maintain relationships with both internal and external partners
• Strong computer skills – Google suite, Excel