Merchandising Manager

Reports To: Global Direct Sourcing Leader

Location: North America (US/Canada) / Remote with travel，13400 Nelson Ave City of industry, CA 91746

Employment Type: Full-time

1. Job Positioning

We are seeking a strategic and commercially driven North America Sourcing & Merchandising Manager to lead JD Retail's full-category direct sourcing and merchandising operations across the North American market.

In this role, you will be responsible for building and integrating JD's local supply chain ecosystem in North America — including premium brands, distributors, manufacturers, retailers and cross-border e-commerce sellers — with a focus on North America's competitive advantage categories. You will drive direct-to-consumer supply to JD's platforms, enable export to the China /European JD platform to serve consumers, and deliver measurable merchandising and GMV growth targets.

This is a high-impact, externally facing role that requires deep local market network, strong supplier negotiation capability, and seamless collaboration with JD's China-based merchandising, compliance, and operations teams.

2. Core Job Responsibilities

1. North America Supply Market Insight & Strategy

• Supply Market Analysis: Deeply cultivate the North American supply market and ecosystem; continuously monitor and analyze trends in North America's advantageous categories and cost dynamics (e.g., health & beauty, personal care, sports & outdoors, mother & baby, food & beverage), and evolving demand of Chinese consumers for North American products.
• Demand & Category Strategy: Translate market intelligence into actionable local direct sourcing and merchandising plans; define category priorities, target price points, and product gaps based on Chinese user demand and domestic consumption trends.
• Strategic Planning: Build and maintain a rolling sourcing roadmap, quarterly merchandising calendars, and GMV contribution forecasts per category and per supplier tier.

2.2 Supplier Development & Network Building

• Channel Outreach: Leverage local trade exhibitions, industry associations, trade missions, B2B platforms, and existing network referrals to identify and qualify new suppliers; build a robust and continuously expanding sourcing pipeline.
• Supplier Identification & Onboarding: Proactively develop and onboard a diversified supplier base in North America, verifying that suppliers meet industry standards, environmental regulations, ethical labor practices, and strict quality control benchmarks
• Negotiation & Contracting: Lead end-to-end commercial negotiations covering pricing, margins, MOQs, delivery lead times, exclusivity, promotional support, and payment terms; secure and execute contracts and agreements that protect JD's interests.

2.3 Negotiation and Cross-Departmental Collaboration

• Negotiation and Cost optimization: Negotiating contracts, pricing, payment terms, and volume discounts to minimize expenditures and maximize profit margins. — in close coordination with the China team.
• Internal Coordination: Act as the key liaison between North America sourcing team and the China-based merchandising team, on order volume, pricing, compliance, logistics, and operations teams; synchronize market information and align priorities.

2.4 Order Fulfillment & Implementation

• End to end fulfillment: Drive the implementation and end-to-end launch of direct-sourced products order — compliance, logistics, and operations teams
• Quality & Delivery Control: Oversee product quality standards, packaging, labeling, and delivery timelines;
• Risk control: proactively manage risk to ensure smooth and reliable supply chain operations.

2.4 Supplier Management & Ecosystem Governance

• Supplier Tiering & Governance: Establish and maintain a hierarchical supplier classification system (strategic / key / general).
• Performance Review & Optimization: Regularly review supplier operational data and iterate on cooperation models to maximize mutual value.
• Risk & Compliance Management: Handle compliance issues, sudden supply risks, and dispute resolution in a timely manner; Diversifying the supplier base to prevent disruptions, monitoring geopolitical risks, and ensuring supply chain resilience

3. Job Qualifications

3.1 Language & Communication

• Fluent English as native (Must): able to independently lead business negotiations, contract drafting, and contract signing with North American suppliers.
• Working proficiency in Chinese (Mandarin) is a strong plus for effective coordination with China-based teams.

3.2 Professional Expertise

• Product Compliance: In-depth familiarity with North American product compliance requirements (FDA, FTC, labeling, safety standards, import/export regulations) for target categories.
• Category Knowledge: Demonstrated capability in fashion & beauty & sports product selection; strong understanding of the demand pain points and preferences of Chinese consumers for North American products.
• Sourcing & Supply Chain: Solid understanding of the full export chain — including cross-border trade flows, Incoterms, customs clearance, logistics, and key contract terms (pricing, MOQ, payment, liability).
• Commercial Acumen: Strong negotiation, pricing, and margin-management skills; data-driven decision making.
• Work Ethic & Mindset: A proven record of hard work, self-motivation, and ownership — able to thrive in a fast-paced, cross-border environment with high autonomy and accountability.

3.3 Experience & Attributes

• Preferred Experience: Prior local North America merchandising and purchasing experience, or proven experience cooperating with fashion & beauty and personal care categories.
• Preferred Experience: Experience in direct sourcing, or working with global brands/distributors.
• Supplier Resources: Candidates with established relationships and a solid resource network of North American suppliers in relevant categories are strongly preferred. The ability to quickly mobilize existing supplier relationships to accelerate sourcing and merchandising is a key advantage.

Attributes:

• Hardworking & Dedicated: A strong work ethic, willing to go above and beyond to achieve results, and comfortable working across time zones and under tight deadlines.
• Self-Driven & Autonomous: A self-starter who can operate independently with minimal supervision, proactively identify opportunities and problems, and take initiative to drive tasks to completion without waiting to be prompted.
• Ownership Mindset: Strong sense of ownership and accountability — treats business results as personal responsibility, follows through end-to-end on commitments, and takes pride in delivering high-quality outcomes.
• Proactive & Commercially Savvy: Resilient, results-oriented, and commercially astute; strong stakeholder management and cross-cultural collaboration skills.
• Flexibility: Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.