Associate Buyer – Impulse Skin Care

Job Overview:

The Associate Buyer is responsible for driving sales, margin, turn and growth across both channels for a defined area within the Buying Director’s total area of responsibility. This position will support the Buying Director in developing and executing a strategic vision, with a progressive, customer centric-approach all while delivering on sales and profit objectives. This role requires the ability to leverage technical expertise to identify opportunities and develop assortment strategies. A fundamental requirement is to be able to build trust with their teams and key collaborators. Performs other duties as assigned.

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

The Associate Buyer will be known as a trusted, collaborative and results-oriented leader, business partner and change agent who can lead through influence and who possesses professional maturity and industry credibility. The ideal candidate needs to be comfortable and effective leading through significant complexity. Candidates must be comfortable with quickly evaluating and sun-setting legacy approaches that no longer align to the strategy. The ideal candidate will be known for both vision and an equally strong orientation for speed.

The successful candidate will:

• Make “company first” decisions
• Ability to influence partners
• Actively influence market to drive business
• Develop self by participating in ongoing professional development and training
• Seek out innovative solutions to existing customer and/or Company challenges
• Communicate with candor and value open debate to ensure the best ideas come to life

Essential Functions:

• Able to develop, plan, present and execute strategies.
• Make all purchasing decisions independently of Buying Director that satisfies the customer demand and achieves sales, turn and margin plan.
• Understands competitive marketplace and pursues white space opportunities that align with North Star Strategy.
• Competitive shop and determine action necessary to address competitive challenges. Identify any product opportunities and provide suggestions and input in product development to vendor.
• Support Buyer to drive in season business effectively through influence of promotional strategies based on current business needs.
• Regular, dependable attendance & punctuality.

Assortment Vision, Strategy & Selection

• Attend Market appointments prepared with strategic assortment plans and an understanding of product to support customer preferences.
• Set the vision and determine call to action for assortment building opportunities in partnership with Planning, Fashion Office, and Digital teams.
• Collaborate with planning partner to develop and execute assortment strategy.
• Develop pre-season assortment vision that ties to company key priorities and insights from Digital and Planning Director counterparts.
• Partner with Financial Planning to ensure department level financial targets support assortment strategy

In-season Forecasting & ROF

• Decide on in-season changes to make for the department and vendors based on sales, margin and turn forecast from Financial Planning
• Support Financial Planning and Buying Director in building seasonal strategy components based on targets.
• Provide Buying Director with category, class and item performance analysis to assist in determining in-season item-level changes to make

Relationship Building with Vendors, Pricing, Marketing & Visual Merchandising Site/Stores

• Maintain an industry presence that allows for connections, new business opportunities and ideas at Macy’s. Represent and support the Macy’s brand while maintaining this presence
• First point of contact with Vendor Community, Marketing, Visual, Stores, and Pricing.
• Communicate with vendors to ensure timely collection of MDAs/markdowns/RTVs and partner with Financial Planning to ensure alignment with in season VMT input.
• Partner with Pricing team on Pricing strategy and in-season adjustments.

Qualifications:

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Marketing or equivalent.
• Ideally, 2-plus years of experience in retail, catalogue or ecommerce buying or planning.

Communication Skills:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence.

Other Skills:

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

• Assist in developing and coaching Assistant Merchants, EDPs and OMAs
• Inspires, motivates, and influences the behavior of others to drive high performance
• Engages team to examine current practices and encourages creative thinking about how things could be more effective and efficient.
• Asserts own ideas and persuades others in a clear, confident, and composed manner. Tailors message for the audience and is able to gain support and commitment from others.
• Comfortable with taking risks and celebrating risk taking regardless of outcome
• Collaborative, consultative style with a strong ability to establish trust and build relationships across all levels and functions of the organization.
• Resilient, tenacious, high energy. Able to rapidly bounce back from adversity.
• Embraces change with realistic optimism and persists through challenges and setbacks caused by change.

Work Hours:

• Ability to work a flexible schedule based on department and store/company needs.

This job description is not all inclusive. Macy’s Inc. reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. Macy's Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment.

This job overview is not all inclusive. In addition, Macy’s, Inc. reserves the right to amend this job overview at any time. Macy’s is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. Macy’s, Inc. – including Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s – will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal convictions in a manner consistent with SFPC Art. 49 and LA MC ch.XVIII Art. 9