Senior Program Manager, Inventory Exhaust - HYBRID (Seattle, WA)

Nordstrom is looking for a Senior Program Manager, Inventory Exhaust to lead the programs that maximize recovery on returns, overstock, and lightly used inventory. This role is a key decision maker in the end-to-end exhaust journey, from the point merchandise is marked out of stock at Nordstrom or Rack through to its final recovery outcome. Nordstrom recovers this inventory through a combination of paths: direct sale through our Last Chance outlet stores, and liquidation when direct sale isn't the best outcome. This role is focused on prevention and recovery: working upstream with Merchandising and Store Operations to reduce how much inventory becomes exhaust in the first place, and then once it becomes exhaust, making sure it moves through the optimal recovery path as quickly as possible. 

This Senior Program Manager sits at the intersection of Inventory, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Transportation, Store Operations, Product, and Technology. You'll partner with each of these teams to understand their constraints and priorities, but this team owns the outcome: you're accountable for how well exhaust performs across the network, not just for coordinating the parts. This role's scope covers inventory that flows through Nordstrom's exhaust and recovery paths. 

A day in the life... 

• Partner upstream with Merchandising and Store Operations to identify and reduce root causes of exhaust before inventory ever reaches that stage 

• Own reporting and visibility into exhaust flow, including markdown volume to Last Chance, backlog across stores and DCs/FCs, mark-out-of-stock shipment tracking, and site-level productivity, partnering with data analysts to build and evolve the metrics that matter 

• Drive pricing and sell-through strategy in partnership with store leadership, balancing sell-through velocity against margin recovery 

• Manage inventory flow to Last Chance stores, balancing processing capacity and demand, avoiding both backlog and excess overstock selloff 

• Identify and stand-up alternative recovery paths, including liquidation and donation, when direct sale isn't the best outcome 

• Partner with Product and Technology to identify gaps and build requirements for more automated exhaust workflows 

• Drive compliance across Transportation, DCs/FCs, and Store Operations to ensure exhaust processes are followed consistently across the network 

• Support Store Operations by helping resolve customer escalations, and by documenting and updating store-level processes and tracking compliance to them 

• Hold accountability for store-level productivity and variable cost performance tied to exhaust processing 

• Help develop and execute the long-term exhaust roadmap and continuously identify opportunities to improve operational and recovery metrics 

• Escalate issues and options to senior leadership for timely, actionable decisions 

• This position may be required to perform other related duties as assigned 

You own this if you have... 

• 5+ years of experience in program management, supply chain, retail operations, or a related field 

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or relevant Master's degree a plus 

• Prior experience or strong understanding of retail supply chain and store operations 

• Strong analytical skills, comfortable building and interpreting reporting/metrics from multiple data sources to drive decisions 

• Ability to develop and manage pricing or sell-through strategy in partnership with store or merchant teams 

• Proven ability to build trusted relationships and drive alignment across cross-functional teams without direct authority 

• Strong communication skills, able to translate complex, cross-functional issues clearly for audiences ranging from front-line store teams to senior leadership 

• Comfortable with ambiguity, able to identify gaps, build structure, and drive process where none exists yet 

• Ability to travel 2-3 times annually