Associate Buyer

Position Overview

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

1) Support the development of the range within brand DNA and financial target: 

Analyze past sales to support the development of the new season strategy  Work with the division manager to determine the optimum way to invest OTB by class  Build the range based on the past season best seller, full price trends & regional needs  Identify new opportunities and work with the Corporate merchandising & sourcing to include the new product in the range  Work closely with the US & the EU teams to leverage on their buying strategy and their experience  Present the range to the management to validate the buy  Post-buy, develop and present a seasonal hand-off to communicate the seasonal hand-off to communicate the seasonal strategy to the retail and visual merchandising team 

2) Ensure smooth and timely execution of the buy: 

Upon range confirmation take the lead on buy execution  Determine pricing based on full price pricing structure  Analyze and determine size curve by market  Ensure orders are place accurately and on time  Manage relationship with the sourcing department 

3) Manage business in season in collaboration with planning & allocation 

Track receipt to ensure that seasonal deliveries will arrive in the store on time  Produce and analyze selling reports and provide markdown recommendations  Present a business summary on a weekly basis to the Buying and Planning management to discuss key business highlights, risks and opportunities, product best and worst performance and propose any required action  Work with key partners to ensure the execution of the sales strategy  Work closely with the retail team in order to understand the business trends and customer expectations  Collaborate with visual merchandising team to build seasonal guidelines and ensure that the assortment is present on the floor as planned.  Work closely with planning team to build seasonal strategy, invest OTB and determine markdown and promotional strategy  Communicate with allocation to ensure assortment is delivered on time and that key items are always on the floor with sufficient depth 

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

3+ years retail merchandising buying related experience  Strong analytical skills and ability to identify commercial opportunities based on analysis produced  Highly organized and the ability to prioritize team work schedule based on broader business requirements  Curious, willing to develop and solution-oriented  Computer proficient in Excel, Word and PowerPoint  Good communication skills in English both upwards to Senior Management and laterally to business partners both internal and external  Remain driven when faced with challenging trading positions and/or directives from senior management  To demonstrate an ability to operate independently within set business goals, working closely with senior business partners 

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