Sr. Manager, Global Visual Operations

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles.

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.

Job title:   Global Visual Operations, Sr Manager

Department/location:  Kate Spade Global Visual

Reports to:  Sr Director, Global Visual Experience

Purpose: This role is the operational backbone to Kate Spade’s Global Visual Experience team by managing communications, calendars, and fixture production.    It leads in the creation of the Global Directives, standards, and SOP’s, working closely with the global visual experience team ensuring clear and timely communication.  This role understands project management including timelines, budgets, and brand cues.  They manage team calendars around all elements impacting the Global Visual Experience team including markets, floorsets, and walkthroughs.  They have strong communications skills and a leadership presence in store walkthroughs and meetings.  They remain close to the product, understanding placement, adjacencies, and changes to the global directive that they are effectively able to communicate.   They are solution oriented, reviewing opportunities and collaborating closely between GVE and Global/ NA RVM teams to understand issues at play.  They lead best in class visual merchandising communication and a key role with the creation of global guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

- Communications

- Develop clear, consistent, timely and effective directives on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and seasonal basis based on the needs of the business with Global Visual Communications Associate

o    Responsible for the global communications around visual merchandising delivered monthly, staying fresh and aligned with product / customer strategies

o    Manage tools, SOP’s, and details around VM standards and presentation quality within all store environments, ensuring high impact displays that capture global brand essence and meet the unique demands of high traffic, fast paced locations.

o    Understanding complexities of the Kate Spade promotional and signage strategy for easily executed VM within store

o    Create clear window, floorset and launch installation communications for stores, ensuring accurate and consistent execution

o    Create and manage global photo review process to understand execution throughout OL and ML channels

- Listen and react to field feedback, with desire to improve field efficiencies and overall execution

o    Work with VM team at New York stores for monthly floorsets/ window installs as needed

o    Review wholesale execution of floorsets and determine effective ways to communicate visual strategy

- Operationally Driven

o    Manage team travel budget monthly

o    Support team travel logistics including in-store walkthroughs and team meetings, summits, etc

o    Support with SLC and DLC logistics

o    Assist with vendor sourcing, management and bidding for VM initiatives.

o    Manage procurement around VM prop fixtures for NSO, renovations, etc

o    Manage FRSO (Fixture & Replenishment Store Orders) offering for new store openings and relocations based on current in-store merchandising strategy.

- Partner with NA Ops to create visual communication documents & training tools as necessary
- Create presentation decks for meetings to support key initiatives that clearly communication VM perspective.
- Ensure all projects are on schedule and executed on time
- Maintain merchandising guides for global teams, making updates and modifications as necessary

- Calendar

o    Manage KS calendars around Monthly in-store walkthroughs ensuring all parties from field to corporate executive teams are included in invitation

o    Manage GVE team calendar around key market meetings. Work with GVE team to ensure placeholders are on all GVE team member calendars for support needed by day.

o    Manage GVE team calendar around licensing/ wholesale showroom setups.

o    Manage GVE team calendar around NSO and Store Renovation Projects.

o    Manage GVE PTO time ensuring proper staffing of team for key projects

- Cross-Functional Partnership:

- Work closely with Merchandising to understand all Market needs and key meeting dates requiring support
- Partner with NA Operations team on key GVE and Store Design initiatives strategizing on cascading of information at key time
- Collaborate with NA RVM and Global RVM team to ensure strategic alignment on seasonal directions and key brand messages.
- Collaborate with NA Buying and Wholesale to balance brand storytelling with commercial priorities to drive both customer engagement and sales. `
- Partner with wholesale teams to ensure Kate Spade’s visual expectations are consistently executed across diverse retail partners, adapting guidelines as needed for varying footprint, layout, and customer profiles

- VM Leadership:

- Manage execution of visual direction including monthly floorsets, initiatives, tests, windows, etc.
- Support during concepting and ideation of VM strategies and initiatives to improve efficiencies, communication processes and better serve the retail field teams.
- Lead global VM calls with field communicating and problem solving monthly floorsets, mapping and VM initiatives.
- Lead monthly floorset walkthroughs with executive team in floorset store reviewing product changes, new product, placement changes, etc.
- Motivate and manage Visual Communications Associate with all projects as needed.
- Participate in photo review process developing global RVM team on VM opportunities.

Role Logistics

- Target cadence: Hybrid role, NYC based. Tuesday-Thursday in office. Occasional weekends as needed for special projects.
- 5% travel for monthly directive store walkthroughs, activations, installations, new store openings, and remodels
- Manage personal travel budget monthly, proactively flagging any budget concerns.

What Success Looks Like

- Clearly communicate translation of Kate Spade’s big ideas into impactful, customer-facing presentations.
- Field teams feel supported, confident, and well-trained in visual merchandising execution.
- In-store visual presentations are consistent and reflect the brand’s aesthetic, seasonal priorities while also responding to local business opportunities.
- High-level visual standards are maintained across all formats and regions, driving brand equity, brand heat & sales.

Our Competencies for All Employees

Courage : Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
Creativity : Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
Customer Focus : Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
Dealing with Ambiguity : Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
Drive for Results : Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
Interpersonal Savvy : Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
Learning on the Fly : Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers
Strategic Agility : Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
Developing Direct Reports and Others : Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
Building Effective Teams : Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Kate Spade. is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant’s or employee’s qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Tapestry, Inc. will provide applicants and employees with reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact Tapestry People Services at 1-855-566-9264 or [email protected]

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Base Pay Range
$90,000.00-$113,200.00

Here are some of the benefits that we offer: Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, 401 (K), Paid Paternity and Maternity leave, Commuter Benefits, Disability insurance and Tuition assistance. Please click here for a complete list of U.S Corporate Compensation & Benefits.