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Director of Buying

Job title: Director of Buying
Contract type: Full-time
Location: New York
Discipline: Fashion
Remote: No
Reference: 414108
Contact name: Nora Gillern

Job description

Our client is a well-known global contemporary brand that is seeking a new Director of Buying (Handbags & SLG) to join their team!

Director of Buying Job Description

Overview of Responsibilities

• Developing, executing, and communicating product strategies to meet or exceed financial goals for Handbags & Small Leather Goods for both direct-to-consumer omni store and online channels;

• Building effective cross-functional partnerships with team members in Global Merchandising, Planning, Site Merchandising, Visual Merchandising, Marketing and Creative;

• Training, developing, and retaining both direct and in-direct reports.

 

Financial

• Process & evaluate financial plans by category alongside planning partner; including analysis of sales, product mix, etc.

• Analysis & hindsight business on the wkly, monthly and quarterly basis to inform future buying decisions and product action plans.

• On Mondays, in partnership with planning, digest the business to explain the key stories clearly and succinctly, as well as actions & forward-thinking implications of current trends.

• Partner with planning to brainstorm and align on strategies and implications in monthly MFR meetings.

• Deliver key category growth aligned with corporate goals:

o Optimize full-price-markdown equation, focusing on driving full-price growth while also protecting promotional needs. Deliver corporate vision of fewer styles included in promotions.

o Grow leather goods Handbags as key brand pillar and gain market share.

 

Product Strategy

• Create & drive buying strategies across stores & online.

• Drive the business through a broader understanding and vision of the business, market and industry.

• Build seasonal buying strategies in each quarterly market. Balance brand goals and key marketing messages with channel-specific strategies and drivers.

• Dig deeper into business needs with key partners in store ops, visual, site merch, and digital marketing.

• Deliver operational excellence across all ends of the business. Evolve any best practices as we support any new omni-channel initiatives.

• Drive assortment specialization across both channels:

• Stores:

o Work closely with store leads to ensure the right product is in the right place at the right time.

o Utilize tiering model with store capacity tools to protect depth and prevent over-assortment.

o Balance fashion & core mix while layering in specialty tiers.

o Identify micro-assorting opportunities to target layers.

• Digital:

o Deliver special product capsules & exclusives to drive traffic while engaging the customer.

o Balance representing the breadth of the global brand flagship assortment with driving productivity and appropriate depth.

o Celebrate & excite customer with key product launches, investing appropriately in key marketing launches.

 

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Influence the behavior and opinions of others using pertinent data and applying logic to gain consensus.

• Manage cross-functional team relationships on an on-going basis by providing direction on vision, strategy, and meetings to unify team toward a common goal.

• Work with merchandising to brief product needs, including exclusives as well as promotional needs to manage product lifecycle and financial goals.

• Communicate product strategies to cross-functional teams in the quarterly Buying Strategy Deck.

• On the digital side, think strategically from time of buys about online placements and what visuals assets will be needed to support to help marketing create shot lists, then work in season with site merchandising, creative, email and digital marketing teams to drive the business.

• On the store side, work with visual merchandising during market to think about store execution, and then work with them in season to adapt presentations to current trend. Communicate to store teams with monthly newsletters, as well as soliciting feedback from the fleet.

 

Talent Development

• Promote an environment that fosters the ideas of others and supports ongoing collaboration to execute business strategies; measures own success by that of the team’s success.

• Effectively manage and support the career development process of direct reports to insure job satisfaction and future talent development.

• Monitor development and performance of direct reports through regular meetings to discuss performance and development compared to goals; maintain a dialogue regarding their needs and concerns to aid in future development and increase retention.

• Act as a role model and provide leadership within the Buying team by directing, focusing, and inspiring team members to keep their efforts on track.

Expired job