Buyer - Athleisure, Swim & Intimates

VICI•Los Angeles, CA

4d•$100,000 - $115,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Buyer develops, executes, and communicates assortment architecture that reflects the VICI customer through relevant trends and exceptional value. The role contributes to sales and profit plans and collaborates across functions to bring the company’s creative vision to life through product execution and key category drops, working with the Director of Merchandising and Chief Merchandising Officer. The position focuses on athleisure, swim, and intimates, including product development and vendor collaboration, alongside buying in-line vendor products.

Requirements

Deep experience in women's apparel and a proven record of delivering company KPIs, with experience in several categories such as intimate apparel, sleep and lounge, activewear, athleisure, swim, and cover-ups.
Passion for and understanding of the VICI customer and how to serve her.
High taste level, broad market and fashion knowledge, and ability to translate trends into commercially viable revenue.
Excellent analytical, time-management, and organizational skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
High degree of personal and professional integrity.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment with shifting priorities and manage vendor product-development details and category launch dates.
Ability to collaborate across groups to advance company objectives.
Clear verbal and written communication and negotiation skills.
Excellent problem-solving skills and willingness to think creatively to resolve issues.
Strong analytical skills and demonstrated proficiency working with large data sets.
Comfort working with systems such as NetSuite and Shopify.
Fluent English reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension, with professional verbal and written communication.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, as well as Mac and Google products.
Knowledge of standard applications such as Slack, Office365, and Chrome.
Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent work experience.
4–6+ years of prior experience in retail or ecommerce merchandising and buying.
Previous experience managing an assistant or associate.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute commercially sound product strategies and assortment plans that reflect VICI customer tastes and needs.
Maintain expert knowledge of the VICI customer, competitor activity, current trends, and the fashion market.
Work directly with vendors on product development and exclusive assortments, and execute concepts from development through market.
Develop seasonal merchandise assortment plans supporting financial, merchandising, and marketing objectives, including product concepts, key items, promotional strategies, and assortment mix.
Set product- and category-level pricing recommendations and strategies aligned with financial plans.
Deliver open-to-buy goals for sales, inventory, cost, SKU, and margin objectives.
Make vendor appointments proactively to fill assortment gaps and meet open-to-buy targets in line with pre-season strategies.
Review and communicate business performance, recommend markdowns, and develop forward-looking action plans.
Analyze in-season performance and customer needs, then adjust assortments and actions through reorders, cancellations, edits, discounts, swaps, and adds, including vendor negotiations.
Review post-season performance to identify successes and misses and inform future-season strategy.
Partner with Site Merchandising on featured categories and products that support sales, inventory initiatives, and customer experience improvements.
Communicate with and influence cross-functional teams at weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings to support category goals.
Build and maintain vendor relationships; source and propose new vendors to leadership when needed.
Negotiate with vendors on product quality, purchase quantities, landed costs, delivery, and returns to vendor.
Educate vendors on VICI processes to support efficient appointments and order writing.
Lead and develop junior buying team members, communicate priorities, and manage workflow to deadlines.
Maintain operational excellence and deliver assortments on time by completing workstreams and proactively troubleshooting.
Travel as needed.