Buyer, Designer Shoes

Saks • San Francisco, CA

14h

About The Position

As a Buyer, you will be responsible for the overall merchandising strategy and product direction within assigned categories or departments, aiming to meet or exceed sales, margin, and financial objectives. This role focuses on curating the most distinctive and high-quality merchandise that reflects Saks Global’s exceptional standards and aligns with customer needs and preferences. Leveraging competitive intelligence, customer insights, and business analysis, you will ensure a customer-centric assortment that drives performance. In addition to leading the purchasing and negotiation of merchandise, you will partner with Merchandise Planners to develop and execute strategies that maximize business opportunities. As the Buyer, you will also manage and mentor a team of Associate Buyers, Assistant Buyers, and Coordinators, fostering collaboration and ensuring alignment with business goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent retail experience.
• 5+ years of experience in a buying office with a strong understanding of buying operations and retail strategy.
• Proven business acumen with strong financial, analytical, and strategic planning skills.
• Expertise in retail math, including markup, margin planning, OTB, WOS, T/O, GMROI, and assortment planning.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management capabilities in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong internal and vendor relationships.
• Strong customer focus with a results-driven mindset and ability to manage ambiguity.
• Highly organized with strong planning, prioritization, and conflict management skills.
• Strategic thinker with the agility to adapt to changing business needs.
• Willingness to travel, including internationally, as needed.

Responsibilities

• Provide input on category and pre-season planning strategy in collaboration with Planners based on past performance and knowledge on trends/brand insights, and execute on the strategy throughout the season
• Build customer-centered assortment framework and allocation strategy based on customer and trend insights from Stores, Digital, CACI and Fashion and provide guidelines for allocation teams to follow
• Set strategies for product display and flow (e.g., launch dates, weeks of full-price selling, cross-sell opportunities, collection considerations) in alignment with guardrails from Planning and Marketing
• Lead market prep activities and attend market to select the best product in alignment with guardrails from Planning (e.g., Checkbook, OTB) and category direction from BP & Buying Leads (e.g., omni strategy, banner differentiation)
• Coordinate buys with brand partners, collaborate on exclusive merchandise, manage day-to-day communication around in-season brand performance, trending styles, chase opportunities and resolve escalated order management issues
• Review daily performance reports and work closely with Planner counterparts to gather insights on trending products, categories, brands, etc., pull in-season levers to optimize performance and prepare for monthly OTB meetings to provide bottoms-up context and escalate opportunities and risks to Leads
• Serve as the owner of their business, constantly negotiating with Brand Partners throughout the season to improve performance (e.g., style swaps, capsules, RTVs, matrix expansion, markdowns)
• Provide mentorship and hands-on training to Associate Buyers, Assistant Buyers, and Coordinators, equipping them with the business acumen and practical skills needed to become successful future Buyers.

Benefits

• medical insurance
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• basic life insurance
• supplemental life insurance
• disability insurance
• a variety of additional voluntary benefits (such as critical illness, hospital and accident insurance)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees