Program Manager 2 – Merchandise Strategy Activations - (Hybrid, Seattle, WA)

Nordstrom•Seattle, WA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Program Manager 2 – Merchandise Strategy Activations role serves as the conduit between the Buying Offices and our stores, ensuring that seasonal product strategies are brought to life in compelling, customer-ready experiences. This role translates assortment intent into clear, actionable in-store playbooks, partners across functions to execute with excellence, and creates feedback loops to continually improve presentation, storytelling, inventory health, and event activation. This individual has a unique blend of merchandising expertise, store operations experience, and program management skills. They are a strong collaborator and communicator (written and verbal), a self-starter who thrives in ambiguity, and an owner at heart who moves work forward with minimal direction and excellent decision quality.

Requirements

Prior experience as an Assistant Buyer or Planner and in-store leadership experience as a Department Manager (or equivalent).
Strong program/project management skills with proven ability to drive cross-functional initiatives from brief to execution.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills—able to simplify complexity and influence without authority.
Demonstrated decision quality grounded in data and store/customer insights.
Self-starter mindset: curious, proactive, and comfortable moving work forward with minimal direction.
Proficiency with merchandising tools and productivity platforms (Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Smartsheet).
Ability to travel to stores as business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Preferred experience partnering with Visual Merchandising, Allocation/Planning, Supply Chain, and Marketing/Events teams.
Preferred comfort with dashboards (Tableau/Power BI) for performance monitoring and storytelling.
Preferred vendor management and event activation experience.
Preferred Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, or related field—or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

Walk the sales floor with store leadership and visual partners to ensure product strategies are translated into compelling, shoppable stories.
Collaborate with store and visual leads to ensure product is merchandised into key stories, validate signage, and confirm storytelling aligns with seasonal priorities.
Ensure floors and stockroom product is full and filled in, and partner with Allocation/Planning to raise opportunities.
Host huddles with store teams to share the “why” behind the story, key talking points, and service moments to drive sales.
Partner with Department / Store Managers to coordinate event readiness: confirm staffing, vendor deliverables, fixtures, and signage are on point for activation.
Capture feedback and insights from store teams and customers; share photo-rich recaps and recommendations with Buying, Planning, and Visual partners.
Collaborate with store leadership to balance competing constraints (space, labor, inventory variability) to deliver simple, scalable solutions across locations
Partner with store operations, Department Managers and the SSA (stock staging area) to assist in product flow (new deliveries in and potential RTVs out) as well as processes
Act as Liaison for FAO & Corner Brands to help ensure proper processes are followed in terms of product deliveries and product knowledge meetings.
Need to adhere to Nordstrom store standards
Partner with Buying Office and act as the liaison between Brands & Store Activations, pulling in key partners across the organization as needed to ensure execution