Assortment & Retail Experience Manager

Description

Assortment & Retail Experience Manager — California Region

Purchasing · Retail Experience & Assortment Management · Assortment Specialist — California Region

In-market across our California stores · Full-Time · Reports to: Director of Purchasing

Work Standard: 4 days a week in-store and in-market across California, and 1 day working from home or at our Novato headquarters. Store time is the default, not the exception.

Description

Join the Mike’s Bikes Crew as our Assortment & Retail Experience Manager — California.

Mike’s Bikes is a community focused bike shop with an international reach. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional hospitality to our neighbors while also being a leading partner to the largest global brands.

Every buy at Mike’s Bikes starts in the store, and this role is where it starts. The Assortment & Retail Experience Manager — California decides which SKUs each California store carries, based on its capacity, customer profile, sales history, and local opportunity. Those selections are the originating input for our regional buy and allocation. You also set the store-level inventory targets that guide our weekly allocations, fix assortment gaps, balance stock between stores in the region, and make sure store teams have the product knowledge to sell. You’ll spend most of your week on the sales floor with store managers and staff. This is a new role on our Purchasing team.

Our Purchasing team runs on a Hybrid Purchasing Model. Process owners run one stage of the buying cycle end-to-end across every category and region, while specialists own a product department or a region where depth really matters. Every role reports to the Director of Purchasing, who is the single accountable owner for any shared work — so you always know who makes the call.

What You’ll Do (and Love Doing):

ASSORTMENT OWNERSHIP

• Assortment & Brand Selection: Own overall seasonal assortment and brand decisions in close collaboration with your regional counterpart, acting as the direct voice of the store floor. Select SKUs and drive in-season adjustments based on local trends, sales history, and store manager input.
• Trend Spotting & Business Development: Identify frontline consumer trends, emerging categories, and potential new brands or products. Deliver final recommendations to the Director of Purchasing and Commercial Managers before handing off vendor onboarding.

STORE-LEVEL INVENTORY & BALANCING

• Store Inventory Targets & Allocation Input: Set store inventory levels, stock depth guidelines, and specific store needs that feed into the weekly allocations executed by Commercial & Inventory.
• Store Health & Gap Resolution: Spot and resolve assortment gaps quickly, monitor in-stock rates and store-level turns, and keep aged stock low across all stores in your region.
• In-Region Transfers: Own store-to-store transfers and inventory balancing within your region to ensure stock sits where the demand is.

RETAIL EXPERIENCE & RELATIONSHIPS

• Merchandising & Customer Experience: Own merchandising standards, floor sets, displays, and product launches so every store is easy and exciting to shop.
• Focus Group & Retail Management: Be the voice of the stores inside Purchasing — gather feedback from managers and staff and turn it into assortment decisions.
• Retail Staff Training Support: Support product and brand training for store staff, including launches, clinics, and training modules.
• Vendor Communication & Support: Partner with vendors and reps on store-level programs, visits, events, and merchandising support.

DEPARTMENT STRATEGY & FINANCIALS

• Contribute regional insight to department strategy and executive vendor negotiations.
• Help drive California financial performance — revenue, margin, units, average bike price (ABP), and margin %.

Your Decision Rights:

• Which SKUs do we buy: You decide by store (responsible and accountable); your selections roll up into the Commercial & Inventory Manager’s total regional buy.
• Weekly allocations: Commercial & Inventory owns weekly allocations from the DC; your store-level selections and inventory targets are the input.
• Who fixes assortment gaps: You do, when reallocation solves it; you escalate to Commercial & Inventory when a new SKU or more units are needed.
• Who owns transfers and balancing: You are responsible and accountable within the region.
• Who is accountable for a lost sale: You are, when the units existed in the region but were in the wrong store.

How We’ll Measure Success (Core KPIs):

Targets for each KPI are set with the Director of Purchasing and reviewed regularly.

• Store In-Stock Rate: In-stock rate by store on the assortment you select.
• Store Lost Sales: Sales missed because units were in the region but not in the right store.
• Store Turns & Aged / Excess Inventory: Inventory turn by store, and the share of store inventory that is aged or above optimal levels.
• Sell-Through vs. Plan: Store-level sell-through against the plan behind your selections.
• Gap-Resolution Time: Time from spotting an assortment gap to fixing it, through reallocation or escalation.
• Assortment & Store-Fit: Understanding and executing on the differences between stores and their customer base

Training & Growth:

• A structured onboarding with the Director of Purchasing and each process-stage owner, so you understand how the whole buying cycle fits together
• Ongoing mentorship and support to help further your continued development
• Training partnerships and product clinics with top brands in the cycling and outdoor industry
• Cross-training across Demand & Supply, Commercial & Inventory, Retail & Assortment, and Operations
• Career advancement opportunities within Purchasing and other sectors of the bike industry

Perks & Pay:

• Compensation: Salary range: $71,000 - $75,000
• Medical and dental benefits available for full-time employees
• Paid time off and 401(k) with company matching
• Some of the industry’s best employee discounts and perks

What You Bring to the Table:

• Ideally 3+ years of experience in merchandising, assortment planning, buying, or multi-store retail management — bicycle or outdoor industry preferred
• A strong working knowledge of bicycles and cycling gear, and an eye for how product should look on a sales floor
• Experience working directly with store teams — you listen well and earn trust
• Comfort with data — reading sales and inventory reports to make store-level SKU and stock decisions
• Confidence using a POS system, ERP / inventory tools, and Google Workspace
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including leading training sessions
• Comfortable spending 4 days a week in stores across California; valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required

Ready to turn your passion into a career? Apply today and help us keep the wheels turning at Mike’s Bikes. We can’t wait to meet you!

Requirements

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read, comprehend, and explain documents such as vendor agreements, purchase orders, safety rules, operating instructions, and procedure manuals in English. Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, in English.

LOCATION & TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: This role requires being on the road 4 days per week visiting, auditing, and supporting our California retail store network, with the goal of visiting every store in the region on a weekly basis. The remaining 1 day is dedicated to remote or Novato headquarters administrative work. High mobility across the region is essential, and the employee is responsible for their own reliable transportation and commute to assigned store sites. A valid driver’s license and a clean driving record are required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS FOR THE ROLE: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the overall duties and responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the overall duties and responsibilities. While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly splits time between a computer and the sales floor, and is required to stand, walk, use hands and fingers, reach above head, stoop, kneel, talk, and hear. The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 30 pounds solo and up to 50 pounds shoulder to height when setting displays, moving bikes, and merchandising products. Regular travel between store locations is required; a valid driver’s license and reliable transportation are required. Vision may be corrected within normal range. The noise level in the work environment can be loud