Inventory & Merchandise Manager – US Sports Camps

Company Overview:

Youth Enrichment Brands (YEB) is the nation’s leading youth activities platform, offering camps, leagues, classes, and other programs. YEB companies provide fun and enriching experiences to over 950,000 kids each year across the world. Our mission is to help kids discover and develop their passions. We do this by connecting and serving a network of companies that deliver best-in-class youth camps, classes, music education, and sports leagues. Coaches, teachers, entrepreneurs, and franchisees are the lifeblood of this network. YEB encompasses School of Rock (a music school for all skill levels, ages, and musical aspirations), i9 Sports (the nation’s largest youth league franchisor), Streamline Brands (the leading franchisor and operator of swim schools), US Sports Camps (the official provider of NIKE Sports Camps), and other additional premier youth activity brands.

Job Summary:

US Sports Camps (USSC), headquartered in San Rafael, California is the licensed operator of NIKE Sports Camps. It was started in 1975 with the same mission that it defines today: To connect passionate coaches with young athletes to facilitate athletic and personal development in a positive and safe environment. By partnering with the country’s best coaches to direct our camps and by providing them with valuable operational and marketing support, USSC is the largest operator of sports camps in the world. USSC’s offerings include youth and adult camps in baseball, basketball, crew, cricket, esports, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, pickleball, rugby, running, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball & water polo.

The US Sports Camps Inventory and Merchandise Manager oversees two distinct product streams: internal camp supplies (camper shirts, uniforms, equipment, prizes, etc.) and customer-facing merchandise (retail products sold to customers). This role combines strategic merchandising decisions for retail sales—selecting products, negotiating with suppliers, and planning assortment based on market trends—with tactical inventory operations for camp supplies, including tracking stock levels, coordinating logistics, and ensuring accurate data management. The position requires balancing commercial objectives for retail merchandise (sales, profitability, customer appeal) with operational efficiency for camp supplies (cost control, avoiding shortages/overstock, optimizing workflows, maintaining accurate systems).

Key Responsibilities:

Product Selection & Assortment Planning

• Research and identify retail products, equipment, and prizes that align with brand strategy, customer needs, and market trends
• Develop and maintain a balanced merchandise mix across categories, styles, price points, and seasons
• Plan product lifecycles from introduction through discontinuation and monitor competitor offerings to inform buying decisions

Purchasing & Vendor Management

• Negotiate pricing, terms, and contracts with suppliers for both camp supplies and retail merchandise, building strong relationships and evaluating vendor performance
• Enter and track purchase orders from creation through delivery, confirming order details, pricing, and shipment schedules across all suppliers
• Serve as liaison between external fulfillment partners and internal stakeholders regarding order issues and adjustments

Product & Data Management

• Create and manage SKUs for new and existing products in both categories, ensuring consistency across ERP and inventory management systems
• Maintain product lifecycle data through periodic cleansing to ensure accurate descriptions, pricing, and attributes across all platforms
• Conduct regular inventory audits, validate receipts against invoices, and resolve discrepancies between systems and physical stock

Inventory Control & Optimization

• Monitor stock levels for camp supplies to ensure program readiness and avoid shortages during peak season
• Collaborate with sport managers and department heads on replenishment needs and conduct demand/supply planning for camp programs
• Implement best practices to optimize inventory levels and prevent excess stock of seasonal camp items or merchandise items

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Develop and manage merchandise budgets, including open-to-buy planning, and set pricing strategies to optimize margins while remaining competitive
• Analyze sales data, profitability metrics, turnover rates, and make markdown decisions to clear aging retail inventory while protecting margins
• Monitor sell-through rates and adjust strategies for slow-moving or high-performing retail items

Logistics & Warehouse Operations

• Manage inbound receiving and outbound shipping operations for both camp supplies and customer orders, ensuring efficient material flow
• Coordinate with third-party warehouse partners to optimize operational efficiency and resolve logistical challenges
• Oversee customer order management for retail merchandise, including address validation, returns, and fulfillment

Reporting & Analysis

• Prepare monthly reconciliations for accounting, including merchandise recaps, camp supply usage reports, variance tracking, and storage summaries
• Use inventory software to track, report, and analyze stock data for both product streams, conducting ad hoc reporting across business units
• Forecast demand for camp supplies and retail sales to inform purchasing decisions

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Project Management

• Collaborate with marketing teams on retail promotional strategies, partner with program managers on camp supply needs, and align with finance on budgets and profitability
• Lead inventory-related projects including bulk ordering improvements, storefront enhancements, SKU consolidations, system testing, and specialized ordering platform management
• Conduct periodic forecast reviews with suppliers and drive initiatives to improve ordering efficiency, merchandising processes, and data accuracy across all channels

This combined role requires strong analytical skills, commercial acumen for retail operations, attention to detail for supply management, and the ability to balance strategic planning for customer merchandise with hands-on operational execution for camp supplies to support both sales growth and program effectiveness.

Requirements:

1. A bachelor’s degree is required. A degree in Supply Chain, Retail Management preferred.
2. 5+ years of supply planning logistics, merchandising and vendor management experience.

3. Data analysis and inventory forecasting experience required. Strong proficiency with MS Excel and other analytical tools is required
4. Experience with NetSuite and Shopify is a plus.
5. Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and influence decision-making at all levels of the organization.
6. Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex financial concepts and decisions clearly and concisely.
7. Strategic thinker with the ability to proactively identify opportunities to drive business growth and profitability.

This is a hybrid role and will require being onsite at our San Rafael, CA office 3 days per week

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