Position:                   Buyer, Denim & Casual Bottoms

Basic Responsibilities:

Develops and executes the product strategy to drive the Brand to achieve Sales and Profit.

Specific Responsibilities:

Positioning

Business Line Planning

        Develops strategic vision of department integrating customer insight, competitive information, market intelligence, sales and fashion trends, fashion intuition and product distortion to maximize sales and profit.

        Architects balanced line plan that integrates fashion, lifestyle, fit, pricing pyramids and tiered strategies.

        Identifies key categories/items and distorts them to focus on driving newness, fashion penetration of Top 25.  Delivers first to market product with one eye point of view.

        In season, reacts to current business trends; ensures the integration of fashion newness, develops upside strategies, recognizes product evolution and potential voids; prepares contingency plans to drive sales and profit objectives.

Intelligence: Customer/Market/Competitive

        Understands the customer research and anticipates what the customer wants next; uses information from store visits in decision making and planning process.

        Patterns competitors and fashion leaders and understands how they are projecting their brand.  Focuses on overall assortment, fashion offering, pricing/promotional cadence, and presentations. Uses information in season and future line planning.

        Collects market/vendor information and integrates into the development of the strategic vision and the future selection of product.

        Synthesizes intelligence (customer/market/competitors) and determines its relevancy to the brand strategy.

Business Management

        Pre-seasonally, partners with planning and allocation around sales forecasting/planning, APS, promotional cadence, flow order, color/size buys, minimum /maximum quantities, etc.

        Drives superior performance by reviewing business in-season to maximize sales and profit; owns the in-season management of sales and profits in partnership with Planning & Allocation Teams.

Product

Product Development

        Partners with Product Development to move the product to next and brings a customer and market perspective to the product development process.

        Collaborates with Product Development in fabric development and selection.

        Selects fashion styles that fit and flatter multiple body types, offer diverse styling and are customer intimate.

        Ensures the final assortment is integrated with the Design Concept and the Product Strategy.

Sourcing and Production

        Strategically reviews Sourcing Matrix; looks at vendor commitments/results and understands the affect of decisions on long term partnerships.

        Considers the variables to manufacturing the product; makes decisions to insure the cost, retail price, margin, quality, capacity or delivery date of a garment to meet the business needs.

        Determines sampling vendor(s) with Product Development Partners.

        Selects a single vendor with Product Development partners to bulk manufacture each product from pre-approved list based on the vendor's capabilities to meet the business needs.

        Communicates the expectations to vendors, holds them accountable for the execution and results of production; provides commitments to vendors to minimize capacity and production problems.

        Develops and manages time/action calendars to ensure on time delivery; understands work in progress or status of production; minimizes risks/liabilities and maximizes profitable opportunities.

        Supervises associate(s) who track production status of product.

Place

        Delivers on time fashion assortment that projects one eye point of view.

        Makes merchandising/promotional recommendations to distort key categories/items which integrate with the merchandising, marketing and promotional plans.

People

        Leads by example. 

o       Exceed customer's expectations

o       Inspire passion/innovative thinking

o       Foster teamwork and collaboration

o       Cultivate honesty and integrity

o       Deliver superior performance in everything we do.

        Takes accountability for self-learning and development.  Prepares self for broader responsibilities.

        Takes accountability to develop associates.  Prepares associates for broader responsibilities.

        Recruits and attracts "the best talent" to the organization.

Experience:

        5-7 years experience in buying positions for leading retailers.

        Understands Brand-has worked with a fashion brand.

        A college degree emphasizing business skills.

        A successful track record and a reputation of exceeding performance expectations.

        PC Literate.