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Ulta Beauty · 1 day ago

Sr Merchant

Bolingbrook, IL

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$103K/yr - $150K/yr

8+ years exp

Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer, revolutionizing the beauty retail experience with over 1,300 stores and an innovative omni-channel ecosystem. The Senior Merchant, Brand Building role provides enterprise leadership for the brand-building ecosystem and acts as a strategic owner of Ulta Beauty’s brand-building platforms, influencing stakeholders and representing the company externally.

BeautyConsumer GoodsCosmeticsRetail

Responsibilities

Owns the end-to-end strategy, vision, and execution of the MUSE Accelerator, Ulta Beauty’s retail readiness accelerator for emerging brands

Leads annual program planning including curriculum design, mentor selection, speaker strategy, budget management, timelines, contracts and event execution

Evaluates applications, ensuring strategic alignment with Ulta Beauty’s growth priorities, and selects cohort brands in partnership with senior stakeholders

Partners with internal and external leaders to position MUSE as a best-in-class accelerator across the beauty industry

Serves as a senior Ulta Beauty representative to founders, providing strategic guidance, market insight and retail expertise

Leads and participates in accelerator programming including check ins, curriculum sessions, fireside chats, and milestone moments

Coaches and mentors team members, fostering accountability, development, and high performance

Provides strategic oversight for SPARKED, Ulta Beauty’s emerging brand merchandising platform

Partners with the Assistant Brand Manager and merchants to curate brand selection across stores, the Mag, and digital platforms

Monitors performance and establishes benchmarks, expectations, and success metrics for participating brands

Partners with merchandising teams to communicate outcomes, risks, and opportunities, informing future brand decisions

Defines and evolves Ulta Beauty’s enterprise brand-building strategy to support emerging and early-growth brands

Acts as a strategic partner to merchants, supporting brands through launch, scale, and optimization

Reviews and analyzes qualitative and quantitative data to identify growth opportunities, performance gaps, and operational needs

Leads the development and operationalization of repeatable processes, tools, and frameworks to support brand growth and readiness

Owns and manages budgets tied to brand-building and strategic initiatives, ensuring disciplined investment and measurable impact

Maintains budget tracking for strategic initiatives, provides reporting on spend, related to Brand Building and Emerging brands

Partners with Education team to develop brand education content, including quarterly videos and in-store learning tied to key moments

Collaborates with Marketing and Stores to activate brands across heritage months, merchandising moments, events, and campaigns

Be ahead of the curve on trends, consumer behavior and competitive activity

Acts as a liaison for key non-profit partners in supporting emerging brands and founders

Builds and sustains a results-driven, inclusive team culture aligned with Ulta Beauty’s values, mission, and vision

Demonstrates strong executive presence and serves as a thought leader for brand building internally and externally

Qualification

Merchandising expertiseCross-functional relationshipsTeam leadershipBudget managementStrategic thinkingValue creation mindsetCommunication skillsOrganizational skillsEmotional intelligence

Required

Seasoned merchandising expertise with 8+ years of professional retail experience with increasing scope and responsibility with a minimum of 2+ years of experience as a Merchant/Buyer

2+ years of demonstrated experience leading a team in a high-performance culture

Strong expertise in managing cross-functional relationships

High emotional intelligence/IQ and strong relationship management skills

Strategic thinker with strong business acumen and creative problem solver

Capability to lead brand meetings and presentations

Ability to set competitive and breakthrough merchandising strategies and demonstrated experience leading through execution

Displays organizational savviness and executive presence while anticipating and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders

Excellent communication skills, both oral and written

Effective planning and prioritizing skills and ability to stay organized in a fast-moving business

Value creation mindset, thinks like a business owner

Models and encourages the expression of diverse ideas and opinions

Some travel required