WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH
You’ll team up with fellow merchants in Womens & Kids, and cross-functional partners across Global and Geo Merchandising, Planning, Allocation, and Brand Marketing. You’ll also collaborate with Finance, Operations, and Insights & Analytics—leveraging powerful data to fuel your decisions and drive impact in the football footwear space.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Our Football Footwear Merchandising team lives and breathes the game. We understand the athlete, the fan, and the culture—translating insights into game-changing assortments. We blend art and science to bring Nike’s football vision to life across Nike Direct and wholesale channels, with a laser focus on key cities and communities. We’re looking for a dynamic leader who can spot trends, spark innovation, and deliver the right product at the right time and place.
We’re on the lookout for a passionate football fanatic with a sharp eye for product and a pulse on the game. If you thrive in the fast-paced world of sport retail and bring energy, agility, and a consumer-first mindset to every decision, this is your field to play! As a Lead Merchant, you’ll help shape the future of football footwear with bold ideas and relentless drive.
This role is primarily focused on performance on-pitch footwear, serving athletes at all levels of play. A smaller but important part of the role also includes off-pitch product, referred to as small sided, which supports the broader football lifestyle and community engagement.
Requirements:
Well-rounded professional experience in merchandising, product creation or retail, in footwear or sport categories are a must-have
Proven experience in the football footwear industry with a strong track record of driving product success
Deep expertise in football footwear products, including performance, innovation, and athlete needs
Robust marketplace knowledge to identify opportunities and optimize product placement across channels
Sharp consumer awareness with the ability to anticipate and respond to football consumer trends
Deep understanding of football culture, athlete needs, and product performance
Strategic thinking with a track record of shaping business direction
Experienced in building strong connections to global counterparts to ensure alignment and leverage global insights
Strong grasp of retail KPIs and profit-based metrics
Excellent communicator and collaborator
Experience mentoring and guiding teammates
Proven ability to balance data-driven decisions with creative intuition
Comfortable leading in complex, fast-moving environments
WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON
As Lead Merchant for Football Footwear, you’ll harness marketplace data, consumer insights, and seasonal hindsight to shape bold product strategies and assortments. You’ll influence Product Creation and Global Merchandising teams to ensure football footwear meets the needs of athletes and fans across all levels of play. You’ll own merchandising KPIs through sharp analysis of retail performance and consumer engagement. You’ll build strong relationships with Nike One Marketplace Merchants, Marketing, Consumer Planning, and Territory Merchants to deliver assortments that elevate the football experience and differentiate Nike in key football cities. You’ll also help balance push and pull market dynamics to optimize product flow and consumer demand.