Senior Buyer, Merchandise - Human

Petco

84d

About The Position

The Senior Buyer is a senior-level omnichannel merchandise leader responsible for end-to-end ownership and performance of 2-4 departments across all channels. This elevated role drives category strategy, trend and innovation leadership, and commercial performance through strong ownership of product, price, promotion and placement. The Senior Buyer delivers differentiated assortments, a steady flow of newness, and customer-relevant innovation that fuels sales and margin growth. The role operates with high autonomy and executive presence, regularly leading product style-outs and walks with the Chief Product & Customer Office and senior leadership. The Senior Buyer builds long-term strategic vendor partnerships, negotiates best-in-class costs and terms, leads and develops talent and partners cross-functionally to deliver results that meet and exceed financial and customer goals.

Requirements

7-10+ years of merchandising or buying experience in a retail environment.
Proven success owning multiple or complex categories with P&L responsibility.
Demonstrated track record of driving sales, margin and assortment productivity.
Strong experience in omnichannel retail strongly preferred.
Deep experience in negotiation and managing strategic vendor partnerships.
Advanced trend, product and assortment judgement.
Strong financial and analytical capability with command of category KPIs.
Executive presence and confidence presenting to senior leadership.
Excellent negotiation and vendor management skills.
Strong cross-functional collaboration and influence.
High ownership mindset with bias for action and results.
Customer-obsessed and competitive — energized by market and store insights.
Strong organizational and prioritization skills in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Own the omnichannel category strategy and performance for 2-4 departments, including complex or high-growth categories.
Develop and execute annual and seasonal strategies aligned to DMM vision and enterprise priorities.
Translate customer insights, trend signals and competitive intelligence into actionable assortment and pricing strategies.
Define category roles, product architecture, and price ladders across good/better/best tiers.
Drive Innovation, exclusivity and the differentiation across the assortment.
Lead product direction and assortment curation across store and digital channels.
Identify and act on emerging trends and white space opportunities through continuous competitive market analysis and competitive shopping.
Champion product newness and innovation pipelines with vendors and owned brand partners.
Regularly present category product in executive style-outs, line reviews, and product walks.
Ensure assortments are customer first, channel-relevant and space-aware.
Own and deliver to sales, margin, inventory turn, and contribution targets.
Partner with Merchandising Planning and Demand Planning to build and manage forecasts and OTB.
Monitor weekly/monthly performance and lead course-correction actions quickly.
Use deep KPI fluency to drive decisions and performance conversations.
Lead promotional and price strategies that balance growth, competitiveness and profitability.
Lead strategic vendor selection and portfolio management across departments.
Negotiate best total value including costs, terms, funding, and innovation access.
Build long-term, strategic partnerships with key vendors focused on growth and differentiation.
Drive join business planning and accountability with top partners.
Partner closely with Owned Brands, Sourcing, QA, and Product Development partners where applicable.
Align product strategies across store and digital channels for cohesive customer experience.
Partner with Digital and Store Operations to optimize launches, storytelling, and conversion.
Collaborate with Space Planning and Visual teams on placement, flow, and presentation strategies.
Ensure coordinated execution across channels and touchpoints.
Serve as senior category leader across cross-functional partners including Merchandising Planning, Demand Planning, Space & Visual Planning, Owned Brands, Product Development, Store Operations, Digital, Marketing, Sourcing, and QA.
Lead, coach and develop at least two direct reports (Associate Buyer and Assistant Buyer)
Set clear goals, accountability and development plans.
Build high-performance, high ownership team culture.
Elevate team capability in financial acument, trend awareness and product judgement.