About the Role
Lola Blankets is a fast-growing comfort and lifestyle brand on a mission to make the world a cozier place. As we expand into new customers and occasions, we’re looking for a Senior Manager, Dorm Category to help build Lola’s emerging college and dorm business.
Reporting to the Director of Emerging Categories & Markets, this role will be the day-to-day owner of Dorm, responsible for turning an emerging opportunity into a repeatable, scalable business. You’ll develop a deep understanding of the college customer and the people shopping for them, build the category’s go-to-market calendar, and coordinate across Marketing, Product, Creative, Ecommerce, Finance, Operations, and Retail to execute it.
Dorm is a uniquely seasonal business. Winning requires understanding not only what to sell, but when and how students discover, consider, and purchase products for college. This person will help Lola build that playbook from the ground up.
Core Responsibilities
Category Growth & Performance
Own the day-to-day growth plan for Lola’s Dorm category, translating goals and KPIs set with the Director of Emerging Categories & Markets into an actionable roadmap
Track performance across revenue, customer acquisition, conversion, product performance, channel mix, and other key metrics
Build a deep understanding of the Dorm customer, including both college students and parents or gift-givers, and identify how their behaviors differ from Lola’s core customer
Identify opportunities and performance gaps throughout the season and recommend actions to improve results
Capture learnings throughout each back-to-school cycle to build a stronger and more repeatable playbook year over year
Seasonal Go-to-Market & Marketing
Own the Dorm marketing calendar, working backwards from key moments including college decision season, graduation, summer planning, move-in, back-to-school, and gifting
Partner with Integrated Marketing, Creative, Ecommerce, CRM, Media, Social, Influencer, PR, and Retail to develop a cohesive customer journey for the category
Translate category needs into clear briefs and cross-functional asks, ensuring Dorm receives the right support during its most important commercial windows
Develop and test Dorm-specific messaging, audiences, offers, bundles, landing experiences, and creative concepts
Identify opportunities to reach college consumers through channels and behaviors that may sit outside Lola’s traditional marketing playbook
College Culture, Community & Partnerships
Become an internal expert on college culture, Gen Z consumer behavior, dorm trends, and the broader back-to-school landscape
Identify opportunities for campus activations, ambassador programs, creator partnerships, student organizations, gifting, sampling, and other community-led growth strategies
Explore partnerships with universities, retailers, platforms, and complementary brands that can increase Lola’s relevance and reach with college consumers
Partner with Social, Influencer, and Creative teams to ensure Lola shows up authentically in the channels and cultural spaces where college consumers spend their time
Stay close to emerging trends across campuses, social platforms, competitors, and the broader youth lifestyle landscape
Product & Customer Insights
Gather insights from customer feedback, performance data, social listening, competitive activity, and market research to inform the Dorm roadmap
Partner with Product and Merchandising to identify assortment, color, size, bundle, price-point, and product opportunities specific to the college customer
Help determine which products and propositions have the strongest potential to become repeatable drivers of the Dorm business
Translate seasonal learnings into recommendations for the following year’s assortment and go-to-market strategy
Cross-Functional Execution
Serve as the primary day-to-day point person for Dorm across Lola’s functional teams
Partner closely with Product, Finance, Operations, Inventory…