Visual Director Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

About the Role
As a Visual Merchandiser, you contribute to an inspiring, elevated, and consistent customer experience by implementing visual standards and commercial excellence. You will be responsible for executing the visual, commercial, and styling curation according to visual & commercial guidelines for the store. You will also use your trend and competitor awareness to provide colleagues with the correct information, coach, upskill and develop the store team to contribute to a great customer experience.
A Day in the Life
Working at H&M means no two days are ever the same, but a typical day will include the following responsibilities*
Customer Sales & Profit

• Contribute to the total OMNI customer experience in your store by ensuring visual and commercial curation according to guidelines (In-direct)
• Representing yourself and the H&M Brand positively during customer interactions (Direct)
• Organize and plan your workload according to store activation plan and adapt based on business needs in collaboration with your Store Management team and Area Visual Manager
• Launch and maintain the latest global campaigns and sale activities on time according to H&M Brand Standards
• Ensure good garment care, stock levels, and give input on allocation to Store Management and Area teams
• Perform sales report (KPIs) follow-up, identify and prioritize visual & commercial opportunities in collaboration with Store Management team
• Create efficient and effective actions to increase customer satisfaction to reach sales targets, store goals, budget, and follow-up actions in collaboration with Store Management team
• Follow all procedures, best practices for OMNI services, operational routines, legal requirements, and communication in all areas of the store with Store team

Fashion & Trend Awareness

• Keep up-to-date with fashion scene, trends, tendencies, styles, products, brands, competitors, and relevant influencers etc.
• Plan time for fashion & trend awareness to understand trend theory and mood boards for styling techniques and product presentation to anticipate our customer's needs and enhance our shopping experience in store

Team & Development

• Share, inspire and educate your store teams, keep them updated with seasonal changes, fashion trends, relevant visual & commercial information, in-store communication, including price perception
• Coach and develop the Store teams visual and commercial skills to secure high quality of product & commercial presentation according to guidelines
• Support & develop daily routines and best practices for your Store team to always ensure a consistent level of visual & commercial standard while maintaining customer service engagement
• Develop and coach talents and provide onboarding training to new colleagues
• Organize, provide, and carry out the visual & commercial upskilling for you and your colleagues
• Complete Visual Competencies & Commercial 4 All trainings based on Regional & Sales Market learning and development goals
• Support Sales Market and Area teams with expansion (store projects) needs

Visual & Commercial Execution

• Execute the visual & commercial curation & styling for the store based on commercial calendar, allocation, store activation plan and fashion trends according to mood boards and direction from the visual & commercial guidelines
• Carry out sample picking best practice routines including stockroom garment quantities, accessories, and shoes to ensure you create clear trends and stories according to inspiration from the visual & commercial guidelines
• Secure window & styling execution according to visual & commercial guidelines to create inspirational and commercial customer experience
• Provide good customer flow by maintaining commercial layout, fixtures, to secure the best trend story placement
• Secure a strong balance and the maintenance of price signs in windows and throughout the store following guidelines according to Global strategy and Sales Market requirements
• In collaboration with Facilities Management ensure all lighting is working correctly, aimed to highlight our products and display forms in windows and throughout the store
• Maintain and care for all display forms and interior material (fixtures & fittings) with sustainability in mind
• In collaboration with Area Visual Manager ensure your store navigation is maintained and kept up to date according to latest guidelines and store layout
• Ensure your store has enough quantities of sale and other activity including POS material according to local routines
• Keep sales floor and back of house clean, organized, and safe according to local security guidelines

Who You Are

• For you to be a successful Visual Merchandiser, you must be curious and creative; always looking for inspiration, proactive, solution focused, flexible, with effective communication skills to achieve results cross functionally.
• We look for individuals with fashion interests and leadership skills who can apply their visual and commercial experience working in a dynamic environment to the role.
• Experience with being solution focused to improve product presentation and commercial execution in store
• Good knowledge of visual, commercial, and operational best practises, routines, and tools
• Know how to manage, follow-up and act on selling equation and weekly sales reports

Why You'll Love Working at H&M

• We value diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and disability
• We pride ourselves on being a values-driven organization, guided by our 7 unique values that have been part of our success story for over 75 years
• You'll have access to our Colleague Resource Groups (CRGs) to find community and networking opportunities among colleagues
• We are an inclusive company where you're encouraged to be yourself at work
• You will have access to a large global talent community, where career growth and aspirations have no limits
• We believe in supporting your overall wellbeing and offer comprehensive benefits inclusive of health insurance, wellness and family support programs, company match retirement plan, paid leave programs, and paid time off, including a community day to serve your local community
• You'll be able to express your personal style with our employee discount at H&M, & Other Stories, and COS

Compensation: expected base salary range is $21.00- $24.34 hourly**
EEOC Code: SLS
Pay Status: Non-Exempt, Hourly

*This job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job and is not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, and responsibilities assigned for this job at the company's discretion.

**H&M, in good faith, has assessed this posted range of compensation as the accurate range for this role and location at the time of this posting. H&M may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range depending on candidate qualifications. This range may be modified in the future.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us at https://hm.ethicspoint.com, and use Ask a Question.

Benefits:

We offer all our employees at H&M Group attractive benefits with extensive development opportunities around the globe. All our employees receive a staff discount card, usable on all our H&M Group brands in stores and online. Brands covered by the discount are H&M (Beauty and Move included), COS, Weekday, Monki, H&M HOME, & Other Stories, ARKET, Afound. In addition to our staff discount, all our employees are included in our H&M Incentive Program - HIP. You can read more about our H&M Incentive Program here. 

In addition to our global benefits, all our local markets offer different competitive perks and benefits. Please note that they may differ between employment type and countries. 

We offer: 25% Staff Discount - Medical, Pharmacy Vision and Dental Coverage - Employee Assistance Program - Vacation, Wellness, Holiday and Parental Pay - 401K - Commuter Benefits, Health and Dependent Care FSA. Plus, additional Voluntary Benefits.

Inclusion & Diversity: 

H&M is a part of H&M Group. At H&M Group, we're determined to create and maintain inclusive, diverse and equitable workplaces throughout our organisation. Our teams should consist of a variety of people that share and combine their knowledge, experience and ideas. Having a diverse workforce leads to a positive impact on how we address challenges, on what we perceive possible and on how we choose to relate to our colleagues and customers all over the world. Hence all diversity dimensions are taken into consideration in our recruitment process.  

We strive to have a fair and equal process and therefore kindly ask you not to attach a cover letter in your application as they often contain information that easily can trigger unintentional biases. 

Company Description: 

H&M is a fashion brand that offers the latest styles and inspiration, from fashion pieces and unique designer collaborations to affordable wardrobe essentials. Our business idea is fashion & quality at the best price in a sustainable way.  Learn more about H&M here.