Merchandising Operations Manager

Grove Collaborative · Remote

managerfull timeremote
Apply on Grove Collaborative’s site →

At a Glance

Grove Collaborative is hiring a Merchandising Operations Manager to audit, redesign, and personally automate the workflows slowing its merchandising team down. Fully remote across 12 eligible U.S. states. Base salary $135K–$165K plus an annual performance incentive and equity. No engineering background required — but you must be willing to build, not delegate.

The Role

Grove Collaborative's merchandising team runs on genuine expertise — and far too much manual effort holding it back. This position exists to close that gap: map how the workflows actually operate, overhaul the ones that are broken, and then personally build the automation that makes those improvements permanent. You will not be handing work to an engineering team or an AI specialist. Using tools like Claude and no/low-code platforms, you will take each fix from concept through live deployment, owning the full lifecycle. It is an unusually hands-on manager role that treats closeness to the problem as its greatest asset.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative (NYSE: GROV) designs and sells household and personal care products held to a higher bar on health, sustainability, and real-world efficacy. The company is a certified B Corp and Public Benefit Corporation — every order ships carbon-neutral, and the business operates on a plastic-neutral basis across its supply chain. Customers browse thousands of vetted products through Grove's direct platform, spanning categories from cleaning and personal care to wellness, beauty, kitchen, and pet. Grove's broader mission: prove that effective, thoughtfully made consumer goods and genuine environmental accountability can coexist without compromise.

What You'll Own

  • Document the real-world state of merchandising workflows — how they actually run, not how they appear in process documents or org charts.
  • Overhaul the core processes that drive merchandising outcomes: assortment planning, item setup, pricing, markdowns, vendor and PO management, allocation, and replenishment, with a focus on speed, accuracy, and margin protection.
  • Act as the operational bridge between marketing campaigns and inventory positioning, ensuring launch calendars are inventory-backed before they go live.
  • Convert activation plans into buying, allocation, and replenishment signals, and flag potential stock shortfalls ahead of launch windows — not after.
  • Align vendor commitments to activation timelines, covering fill rate expectations, lead times, and launch-specific order quantities.
  • Build self-service tooling and automated alerts that reduce repetitive buyer-vendor exchanges and surface vendor performance data proactively.
  • Construct each automation personally using AI tools (Claude and equivalents), no/low-code platforms, and lightweight scripting — from scoping through rollout.
  • Own every pilot lifecycle: scoping, building, accuracy testing, adoption validation, and scaling, while maintaining human oversight on margin- and inventory-critical decisions.
  • Maintain a living catalog of all approved tools and active automations so the team always has clarity on what runs and why.
  • Lead change management for each rollout: training, AI literacy sessions for non-technical teammates, office hours, and building a network of internal power users.
  • Create performance reporting for processes and automations, and use that data to rank and prioritize the next build cycle.

What You'll Need

  • Direct, hands-on experience in retail merchandising operations — not a neighboring function observed from a supporting role.
  • A proven track record of taking a broken process all the way from diagnosis through a working redesign, not stopping at identifying the problem.
  • Enough technical fluency and curiosity to build independently, without a formal engineering background.
  • Comfort working with an in-house AI specialist team in an advisory capacity — they coach, you build.
  • Experience taking a pilot from initial scope through genuine team adoption, with a clear-eyed understanding of the gap between a polished demo and a tool people actually depend on daily.
  • Genuine care for the operational infrastructure that outlasts any one person: documentation, SOPs, tool registries, and training that scales beyond its original builder.
  • A systems-oriented mindset that traces problems to structural root causes rather than treating each issue as an isolated ticket.
  • Sound judgment about which inefficiencies are worth automating and which are better left to human decision-making.

Even Better If You Have

  • A shipped AI-assisted tool — built with Claude or a comparable platform — that a non-technical team has since adopted into its regular workflow.
  • Experience bridging marketing or demand planning functions with inventory allocation and positioning decisions.
  • A measurable track record of reducing repetitive buyer-vendor data exchanges through purpose-built self-service tooling.
  • Working knowledge of retail, CPG, or commerce environments, including how vendor relationships and marketplace dynamics actually operate.

Skills Breakdown: Must-Have vs. Nice-to-Have

The non-negotiables are hands-on merchandising operations experience, a demonstrated ability to redesign broken processes rather than just diagnose them, and a genuine willingness to personally build automation using AI and no/low-code tools. Technical credentials are explicitly not required. The differentiating nice-to-haves signal faster ramp-up: candidates who have already shipped an AI tool a non-technical team depends on, or who have connected demand planning to inventory and allocation, arrive with working mental models Grove cannot teach quickly. This is a manager-level role where the value is in doing, not directing — seniority here reflects depth of expertise and scope of ownership, not headcount management.

Salary & Total Compensation

Grove has disclosed a base salary band of $135,000–$165,000 for this position. Placement within the range reflects both candidate experience and the cost of living in their state — candidates in higher-cost markets with deep merchandising operations backgrounds are best positioned to reach the upper end of the band. Beyond base pay, this role includes eligibility for an annual performance incentive target and an equity grant, making total compensation meaningfully above the stated base range for strong performers. Grove determines bands against market-specific benchmarks rather than negotiating figures ad hoc.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Equity participation — Grove treats shared financial upside as central to how it operates.
  • Flexible paid time off, with the emphasis placed on results rather than hours logged.
  • Complimentary Grove VIP membership plus a 50% employee discount across Grove's product catalog.
  • Employment with a certified B Corp and Public Benefit Corporation working to reduce the environmental footprint of everyday consumer purchases.

Location & Remote Work Details

This is a fully remote, full-time exempt position. Candidates must currently reside in one of 12 eligible U.S. states: California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, New York, Missouri, or Massachusetts. Applicants based outside these states are not currently eligible. The posting does not mention visa sponsorship or relocation assistance.

Frequently asked questions

Is this role fully remote, and are there state eligibility restrictions?

Yes, this is a fully remote position. However, candidates must currently reside in one of 12 specified U.S. states: California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, New York, Missouri, or Massachusetts. Applicants based outside these states are not currently eligible.

Do I need a software engineering or coding background to apply?

No. The job description explicitly states that no engineering background is required. Grove is looking for basic technical comfort and a genuine willingness to build using AI tools like Claude and no/low-code platforms — formal coding credentials are not part of the evaluation criteria.

What is the total compensation for this role?

Grove has published a base salary range of $135,000–$165,000. Placement within that band depends on candidate experience and geographic cost of living. On top of base pay, the role includes eligibility for an annual performance incentive target and an equity grant.

How does Grove's internal AI team factor into this role?

Grove has an internal AI team, but they function as a coaching and advisory resource — not a build team. You are expected to do the hands-on building yourself. The AI team can guide your approach and offer expertise, but the design, construction, and rollout of automations is your direct responsibility.

Is this primarily a people-management role or an individual contributor role?

This is primarily a doing role despite carrying the Manager title. Grove is explicit that they want someone who builds, not someone who scopes work and hands it to others. The job description notes there is no template — you are defining the standard as you go, with real autonomy and milestone-based reviews.

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