Manager Merchandise Operations 2 - Inventory - HYBRID

Nordstrom is looking for a Manager to support Merchandise Operations within the Inventory team. Inventory is our largest investment as a company, and this individual plays a pivotal role, operating at the intersection of our Merchandising and Supply Chain teams, to deliver value to the company. Merchandise Operations owns key processes within the buy cycle, including Supplier Onboarding, Item Setup, and Ordering Execution. 

This role is critical to helping Merchandise Operations deliver efficiencies and speed to customer while leading teams through meaningful change. The Manager 2 leads a large organization, while balancing day‑to‑day operational excellence with longer‑term transformation, ensuring the business stays running while evolving how our work gets done. 

The ideal candidate is a strong people leader who thrives in complexity and ambiguity. They are curious, thoughtful, and outcome‑oriented, with the ability to lead through change while keeping teams focused and engaged. This individual demonstrates ownership and accountability for both results and how those results are achieved. 

This position reports to the Director of Merchandise Operations. 

A Day in the Life...

• Team leadership, development, and people management: Develop and lead a high‑performing organization of ~100 team members, including approximately 10 people leaders. Provide clear direction, strong coaching, and consistent feedback. Build leadership capability across the team, with an emphasis on decision‑making, accountability, and leading through ambiguity and change. 

• Change leadership and execution: Ability to lead teams through change, including process evolution, tooling adoption, and operating model shifts. Clearly land change messages, translate strategy into actionable priorities, and support teams through transition while maintaining business continuity. Champion continuous improvement across our organization. 

• Operational excellence while moving the business forward: Ensure core processes execute reliably and at scale while identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, speed, and quality. Balance near‑term delivery with longer‑term transformation goals. 

• Data‑driven leadership and performance management: Define, monitor, and act on key performance indicators that measure process health, productivity, service levels, and outcomes. Use data, reporting, and insights to inform decisions, prioritize work, and drive improvement. 

• Cross‑functional partnership and influence: Partner closely with merchandising, supply chain, stores, digital, product management, business process, analytics, and technology teams. Build trusted relationships to resolve issues, align on priorities, and deliver outcomes across organizational boundaries. 

• Senior leadership engagement: Collaborate with senior leaders, including Directors and VPs, to maintain focus on top business objectives. Provide clear updates, surface risks and trade‑offs, and drive alignment and decisions when needed. 

You own this if you have... 

• Bachelor’s degree required 

• 5+ years of experience in merchandising, operations, supply chain, or related fields 

• Demonstrated experience leading large, multi‑layered organizations, including people leaders 

• Proven ability to lead teams through change, ambiguity, and evolving business priorities 

• Strong business acumen with experience using data to set goals, establish KPIs, and assess performance 

• Advanced Excel skills required 

• Ability to synthesize data, assess outcomes, and support sound decision‑making 

• Track record of building strong relationships and influencing across functions and levels 

• Clear, effective communicator with strong written and verbal skills