Regional Merchandising Manager

Job Description

Job Description Position Summary

The Regional Merchandising Manager (RMM) provides strategic and operational leadership for merchandising execution across an assigned region. This position leads Area Merchandising Managers and their field teams to deliver sales-ready garden centers, achieve financial and operational objectives, maintain customer standards, and build a high-performing, accountable, and engaged workforce.

The RMM is responsible for regional performance across sales, labor, sell-through, shrink, service execution, safety, staffing, training, performance management, and customer relationships. Success requires visible field leadership, sound judgment, timely communication, strong emotional intelligence, professional composure, and confident use of business technology and data.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, develop, and hold accountable Area Merchandising Managers and their merchandising teams across the assigned region.
• Establish clear regional priorities, translate company objectives into executable field plans, and maintain documented follow-up routines to ensure completion.
• Recruit, select, onboard, train, motivate, recognize, performance-manage, and, when necessary, discipline team members in partnership with Human Resources.
• Build bench strength and succession readiness by identifying potential, developing talent, and preparing leaders to take on increased responsibility.
• Create a culture of accountability, collaboration, trust, inclusion, and continuous improvement while maintaining strong team morale.
• Model leadership maturity by demonstrating emotional intelligence, self-awareness, empathy, sound judgment, and composure, especially during conflict, pressure, performance conversations, customer escalations, and organizational change.
• Regulate personal reactions, communicate calmly and respectfully, and avoid behavior that could undermine employee confidence, customer relationships, or the credibility of the leadership team.
• Recognize the impact of words, tone, timing, and behavior on others; adapt communication appropriately while remaining direct, consistent, and accountable.
• Resolve conflict promptly and professionally, listen to understand, seek facts before reaching conclusions, and maintain confidentiality and objectivity when handling sensitive matters.
• Provide consistent and timely communication to field teams, internal partners, customers, and senior leadership.
• Plan and lead effective meetings, video calls, business reviews, coaching sessions, and regional communications that clarify expectations, decisions, ownership, and deadlines.
• Maintain regular field presence through store visits, documented store walks, business reviews, and direct observation of team and customer execution.
• Ensure garden centers are maintained to company and customer standards, including product placement, rotation, pricing, signing, culling, consolidation, cleanliness, transactability, and sales readiness.
• Ensure consistent execution of merchandising programs, modular direction, seasonal priorities, resets, special events, and company standard operating procedures.
• Partner with account management, replenishment, availability, production, operations, and customer leadership to support sales, inventory allocation, service execution, and issue resolution.
• Use sales, labor, inventory, shrink, sell-through, service, and execution data to identify trends, diagnose performance gaps, and make timely business decisions.
• Manage regional labor and resource allocation, including budgets, scheduling, overtime, productivity, travel, and other controllable expenses.
• Ensure payroll and timekeeping responsibilities are completed accurately and on time, including review and approval of manager pay cycles and investigation of irregularities or patterns.
• Monitor order flow, inventory conditions, workload, service coverage, staffing needs, and field activity to anticipate risk and adjust plans before performance is affected.
• Complete performance reviews, quarterly talent and priority reviews, recognition decisions, corrective actions, and other leadership processes thoughtfully, accurately, and on schedule.
• Collaborate effectively with Human Resources and senior leadership to resolve employee relations matters promptly, fairly, and consistently.
• Ensure safe work practices are prioritized, hazards are addressed, incidents are reported promptly, and teams follow all applicable safety policies and training requirements.
• Complete administrative work accurately and by established deadlines, and provide proactive updates so leaders do not need to repeatedly request status or information.
• Represent Altman Plants professionally with customers, vendors, employees, and business partners at all times.
• Perform other duties and support other regions or business needs as assigned.

Operating Rhythm and Leadership CadenceDaily Expectations

• Review and respond to email and other business communications throughout the workday, ensuring no time-sensitive request remains unaddressed.
• Monitor field activity, schedules, labor, attendance, and execution systems for exceptions, red flags, and recurring patterns.
• Review weekly objectives and adjust priorities as business conditions change while remaining focused on planned outcomes.
• Maintain organized records, communications, and follow-up actions.

Weekly Expectations

• Set documented weekly objectives before field activity begins and communicate priorities and expected outcomes to the team.
• Host a regional team call or video meeting early in the week to set direction, reinforce priorities, and address barriers.
• Distribute a written focus list, checklist, or action plan and maintain a follow-up process that verifies completion.
• Ensure all managers submit accurate pay-cycle and timekeeping information by required deadlines.
• Review active mPlans, Hot Tasks, photos, audit results, and other execution reporting, then address identified issues.
• Spend meaningful time in stores and with field leaders, with particular focus on customer conditions, execution quality, coaching, and business opportunities.
• Review weekly results, document next steps, and provide a proactive status update to the RMM’s manager.

Quarterly and Annual Expectations

• Create and distribute meaningful quarterly priorities and train the team on expectations before or at the start of each business quarter.
• Review talent, performance, readiness, and development needs for each direct report; address prolonged performance or behavior concerns rather than allowing them to remain unresolved.
• Conduct dedicated performance and development conversations with each direct report at least quarterly.
• Maintain an intentional recognition plan and consistently recognize strong performance and leadership behaviors.
• Complete annual performance reviews, goals, awards, kickoff planning, and other required annual processes with accuracy and thoughtful preparation.

Leadership Competencies

Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness, empathy, emotional regulation, social awareness, and the ability to understand how personal behavior affects others.

Composure and Professional Judgment: Remains calm, respectful, and solution-focused during pressure, conflict, disagreement, escalations, and change. Does not react impulsively or allow emotion to override facts, policy, or sound business judgment.

Leadership Courage and Accountability: Addresses difficult issues directly, holds leaders and teams accountable, makes timely decisions, and communicates expectations without avoiding necessary conflict.

Communication and Influence: Communicates clearly, professionally, and appropriately across audiences. Listens actively, adapts messaging, and builds alignment without sacrificing candor.

Talent Development: Coaches effectively, provides actionable feedback, recognizes strengths, develops successors, and creates opportunities for employee growth.

Strategic and Analytical Thinking: Connects field activity to business outcomes, uses data to identify root causes, evaluates tradeoffs, and develops practical solutions.

Planning and Execution: Operates with intention, establishes priorities, assigns ownership, documents expectations, and follows through until work is complete.

Customer and Business Partnership: Builds productive relationships, protects the company’s credibility, and balances customer needs with operational and financial requirements.

Integrity and Reliability: Maintains confidentiality, follows policy, keeps commitments, reports information accurately, and accepts responsibility for results.

Adaptability: Responds constructively to changing priorities, seasonal demands, new systems, and evolving business requirements.

Technology and Software Proficiency

Technology proficiency is an essential leadership requirement for this role. The RMM must independently use business systems to analyze performance, communicate, organize work, document decisions, and verify field execution. Reliance on others to complete routine technology-based responsibilities is not consistent with the expectations of this position.

• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneDrive, Forms, and PDF tools.
• Intermediate Excel proficiency, including accurate data entry, formatting, sorting, filtering, tables, basic formulas, conditional formatting, and the ability to interpret reports. The ability to use pivot tables, lookups, and basic charts is strongly preferred.
• Ability to create professional written communications, reports, presentations, meeting materials, action plans, and performance documentation.
• Ability to navigate mobile and web-based workforce, merchandising, timekeeping, task-management, and reporting applications, including Movista or comparable systems.
• Ability to review dashboards and reports, identify exceptions and trends, validate supporting detail, and convert data into clear actions for the field.
• Ability to manage digital files, shared folders, permissions, version control, and document organization in a manner that supports collaboration and record retention.
• Ability and willingness to learn new systems and adopt process or technology changes within established timelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, retail management, horticulture, operations, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant leadership experience may be considered.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible leadership experience in retail merchandising, field operations, multi-unit management, garden center operations, or a comparable environment preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading leaders and managing performance across multiple locations or a geographically dispersed workforce.
• Demonstrated ability to manage budgets, labor, staffing, service execution, customer relationships, and competing priorities.
• Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, analytical, organizational, and presentation skills.
• Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned region and work varying schedules, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, and some holidays, based on business needs.
• Valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, and ability to meet company driving requirements.

Language and Mathematical Skills

Must be able to read, interpret, and apply policies, safety rules, operating instructions, reports, procedures, and customer requirements. Must be able to write clear business communications, instructions, documentation, and performance-related materials. Must be able to calculate and interpret basic business math, percentages, labor metrics, sales results, budgets, productivity, sell-through, and shrink-related measures.

Physical Demands

This role requires frequent standing, walking, carrying, pushing, pulling, reaching, kneeling, stooping, bending, and extended periods on foot. The employee may frequently lift, carry, push, or move up to 50 pounds and may occasionally move 51 to 100 pounds with assistance from another person or mechanical equipment. The role requires fine dexterity and close, distance, and color vision.

Work Environment

Work is performed in retail garden centers, stores, offices, vehicles, and outdoor environments. Conditions may include heat, cold, sun, rain, dust, soil, moving equipment, moderate noise, fumes, chemicals, airborne particles, and irregular schedules. Reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has direct and indirect supervisory responsibilities for Area Merchandising Managers and regional field merchandising teams.