Purpose: The Senior Buyer is responsible for sourcing, selecting, and purchasing for luxury apparel and accessories in alignment with the company's goals and current trends for both Duty Free and Duty Paid locations, ensuring the right products are available to meet customer demands while maximizing profitability.
Essential Functions:- Sources, develops, and curates new brands and product assortments that align with the company objectives, customer preferences and market trends
- Monitors industry trends, consumer preferences, and competitor activities to proactively identify opportunities and challenges; adjusts assortments accordingly
- Manages supplier and vendor relationships, negotiates pricing and terms, and maintains optimal delivery schedules
- Analyzes sales data and performance metrics to make informed decisions on assortment mix and inventory replenishment
- Addresses aged and slow-moving inventory levels and develops strategies for markdowns and promotions
- Executes SKU rationalization to maximize performance based on space allocation
- Partners with Planner using the OTB to manage stock levels
- Monitors evolving consumer preferences and adjust assortments
- Develops an exit strategy on non-go forward items, negotiates RTVs, and implements markdowns, promotions, and price changes
Reporting Relationship: The Senior Buyer reports into the Category Director of Global and Luxury Brands
Major Interdependencies: Planning, Space Planning, Supply Chain, Revenue, Global Buying teams, Marketing, and Operations
Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Work Environment: - Education and Experience: The combination of education and professional experience must exceed 6 years:
- In a leadership role: Requires 2 years of experience supervising a team of buyers engaged in executing convenience category programs.
- In a technical role: Requires 6 years as a buyer
- A bachelor's degree in a business, marketing, or management program related to the functional area can count for 3 of the 6-year requirement
- An MBA or a master's level degree in a program related to the functional area can count for an additional 1 year of 6-year requirement
- In the industry: 3-5 years of retail experience
- Specialized Training:
- Training that leads to an in-depth understanding of the buying function
- Specialized Skillset/Competencies/Traits:
- Knowledge of financial tools and concept profitability; has the ability to understand and use market research and market trend information to maximize profitability
- Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work enthusiastically and independently with constantly changing priorities
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; excellent written communication and interpersonal communication skills
- Business acumen and also has the mindset required to understand the long-term implications of buying decisions and to advance the organization's goals
- Demonstrated history of understanding the needs of the business, stakeholders, the employee population, and individual circumstances
- Demonstrated history of creating and maintaining positive work environments
- Location/Travel:
- This position may be based at our North America Support Center in either East Rutherford, New Jersey or Toronto, Canada
- Requires ability to travel 40-60% of the time for meetings and to visit branch locations
