Category Manager
Zola
New York, NY, USA
USD 85k-110k / year
Posted on Sep 26, 2025
We are looking for a smart, driven, and detail-oriented Category Manager who is passionate about assortment building and driving a best-in-class e-commerce shopping experience.
This person will be responsible for developing and implementing an assortment strategy to drive their category of business, oversee and develop a direct report, and execute related tasks such as data analytics and financial modeling to drive thoughtful decisions around assortment curation, partnership negotiations, pricing and margin optimization, and site merchandising changes to achieve financial objectives.
The ideal candidate will have experience as a Category Manager in e-commerce, with a proven track record of growth and success in a fast paced environment. This role sits within the Merchandising Team, and will collaborate regularly with cross-functional partners in Planning, Operations, Finance, Customer Service, Marketing, Product & Engineering.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Report into the Director of Merchandising and manage 1 team member
- Develop a clear strategic vision for your business that supports the overall objectives of Zola
- Use data to inform decision making around assortment strategy, site merchandising, margin optimization, and vendor negotiations
- Forge strong relationships with new and existing vendors as well as with internal cross functional leaders
- Plan assortments and conduct regular assortment reviews
- Conduct research and business analysis for merchandise assortments
- Partner closely with Operations and Planning to manage vendor drop ship excellence in order fulfillment, and collaborate with Marketing, (digital) Product & Engineering, and other cross-functional leaders to drive e-commerce initiatives
- Contribute new business ideas for the growth of the business
- Attend trade shows, lead market meetings, stay up to date on competitive landscape and market research
QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience:
- 5+ years of e-commerce specific experience in buying or category management, with a proven track record of entrepreneurial leadership and financial growth in a fast paced environment. Experience in the Baby Registry is not required, but 2+ years of Baby specific buying experience is a strong advantage.
- 2+ years of experience in managing, mentoring, and developing a direct report.
- Skills:
- Proven analytical and diagnostic skills, with strong retail math skills
- Systems-oriented & proficient in Microsoft Office and Google Suite
- Strong negotiation and communication skills (verbal and written), with ability to influence through both official and unofficial channels
- Traits:
- A strategic thinker with the ability to balance short and long term goals
- Demonstrated ability to juggle multiple demands while maintaining a high level of organization and attention to detail
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with a high degree of autonomy; able to get in the weeds and execute hands-on tasks when needed
- Results-oriented and self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership and follow-through
- Ability to be proactive in nature; resolves or appropriately escalates issues
- Strong team orientation, collaborative, cooperative work style
- Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing
- Strong assortment and style sensibility and a keen eye for emerging market trends to serve the customer need
Salary Range
The salary range for this role is $85,000 - $110,000. This full-time role will be hybrid at our office in NYC (Tuesdays & Thursdays).
About Zola
We're Zola, the wedding company that will do anything for love. We're reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience to make the happiest moment in our couples' lives even happier. From engagement to wedding and decorating your first home, Zola is there, combining compassionate customer service with modern tools and technology… all in the service of love.
We built our entire platform from the ground-up in 2013, and quickly became the fastest-growing wedding company in the country. Our team has deep experience creating award-winning online and mobile products that are helpful, intuitive, and simply magical. We're proud to have investor partners including Female Founders Fund, Comcast Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Canvas Ventures, Thrive Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.
We are passionate about supporting all forms of love, and we're proud of our thriving community of over 2 million couples. We strive to hire a team that is as beautifully diverse as the couples getting married today, and we encourage individuals from every race, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, marital status, religion and perspective to apply. Zola will always be a place where every employee, couple, wedding guest, wedding vendor, and partner will be respected and accepted and valued.
Our headquarters is in NYC. Come work with us!
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