Associate Vendor Manager

Ashley Furniture Industries • Tampa, FL

2d

About The Position

The Associate Vendor Manager (AVM) is an eCommerce-focused associate buyer responsible for driving revenue growth across an assigned portfolio of third‑party (3P) vendors and product categories on AshleyFurniture.com (Ashcomm), while balancing profitability and customer value. The AVM develops and executes category‑level business strategies and partners with vendors to build assortments that support the overall Ashcomm merchandising strategy. This role owns an assigned portfolio of vendors and categories in support of the Vendor Management organization. Specific category assignments may change based on business needs.

Requirements

• 3 to 5 years of experience in vendor management, category management, merchandising, retail buying, or a related role.
• Strong attention to detail and consistent follow‑through.
• Ability to synthesize distinct analyses and data sources into actionable business insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a highly collaborative, cross‑functional environment.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to travel approximately 4 to 6 times annually.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in eCommerce.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, merchandising, marketing, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Own relationships with an assigned portion of the 3P vendor base.
• Collaborate regularly with vendor sales counterparts to drive performance.
• Source strategic product selection aligned with Ashcomm’s merchandising strategy.
• Monitor vendor performance and help resolve operational issues as needed.
• Review vendor product proposals and select products that support curated online assortments.
• Coordinate product setup with offshore and cross‑functional partners.
• Ensure accurate and timely execution of item setup, attributes, and content.
• Contribute to Weekly Business Reviews.
• Evaluate week‑over‑week, year‑over‑year, and seasonal performance trends.
• Translate multiple data sources into clear recommendations and actions that improve results.
• Support revenue, profitability, and customer value goals for assigned categories and vendors.
• Source vendor funding for Ashley promotional events and digital campaigns.
• Document vendor commitments and ensure support is collected in a timely manner.
• Partner with internal teams to execute promotions and measure impact.
• Own contract and commercial negotiations for assigned vendors.
• Negotiate and maintain terms including initial marketing, damage, and payment conditions.
• Manage ongoing agreement maintenance and renegotiation as the business evolves.
• Support preparation for major home furnishings and furniture markets attended by the Vendor Management team.
• Attend markets approximately 4 to 6 times annually to review assortments, meet vendors, and support buying decisions.
• Partner with Site Merchandising, Product Enablement, Operations, Finance, Marketing, and other teams to launch new products and categories, resolve operational or content issues, and deliver category and vendor plans.
• Ensure alignment between vendor strategies and Ashcomm site experience.
• Identify opportunities to simplify work and improve processes.
• Strengthen vendor self‑service tools and enable appropriate automation.
• Maintain ownership of required manual work while driving efficiency and scalability.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree