Buyer, Men’s Clothing

As a Buyer, Men’s Clothing, you will be responsible for executing the service strategy within your defined portfolio. You will be responsible for all purchasing functions and their performance with a view to maximizing the efficiency of your portfolio and achieving the sales, profit and market share objectives of the men’s clothing department. The ideal person for the role has a keen eye for the latest trends in the menswear industry, strong analytical skills, a sense of retail math, and established supplier relationships. She will also have an ability to develop and find new products and suppliers by precisely executing the department’s product strategy. Finally,

Responsibilities

Operations 50%

• Achieve pre-established targets for budgets, margins and promotional sales
• Negotiate the terms of contracts with suppliers and lead these negotiations in order to integrate the desired new brands and secure preferential commercial terms
• Lead day-to-day operations, in-season business (returns to vendors, exchanges, etc.) and negotiations of defined business units, to achieve effective execution of corporate deliverables, achievement of growth objectives and optimizing performance at the end of the season
• Conduct competitive research and price benchmarking to ensure assortment is optimized and competitive
• Present monthly diagnostics to the menswear buying leadership including key performance indicators, pace of progress, action plans, new integrated brands and creative initiatives to achieve goals and drive momentum information on future successful purchases
• Be responsible for and implement small to medium scale creative projects
• Support recruit onboarding by providing training on internal tools and processes
• Act as a dotted line manager to an assigned Coordinator or Assistant Buyer, overseeing activities and prioritizing tasks performed
• Strengthen cross-functional relationships to ensure optimal presentation and performance of portfolio and managed projects
• Act as a liaison with studio and marketing teams to ensure products are properly represented from a vendor and SSENSE perspective across all channels
• Recommend key products and share brand knowledge to custom shopping and marketing teams which will result in overall sales for the menswear category
• Align with the planning team and collaborate with the Senior Manager, Men’s Clothing Purchasing, to implement the necessary measures to achieve the budget objectives for the season and identify areas of opportunity for growth
• Work cross-functionally with logistics and account teams to ensure efficient flow of merchandise to the business; ensure competitive uploads for digital commerce and optimize full price selling

Relations with suppliers 50%

• Lead the execution of the seasonal purchasing budget and be responsible for the selection and development of the brand portfolio strategy
• Select products that will contribute to a cohesive shopping message that aligns with the SSENSE brand and service strategy
• Act as a collaborative partner with all vendors providing regular updates to ensure shared success
• Actively push product content to marketing and creative teams to build marketing campaigns that drive great results based on campaign KPIs
• Act as a brand ambassador by strengthening long-term relationships with suppliers, in order to obtain early delivery times, exclusive product launches or offers and preferential end-of-season conditions (exchanges, returns to suppliers , margin agreements, etc.) in order to achieve portfolio sales and profit objectives
• Stay on top of industry trends and constantly select, suggest and onboard emerging brands to meet budget goals and realize SSENSE’s perspective

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
• Minimum of three to five years of experience in a buyer role, preferably in a multi-brand environment
• Ability to leverage an established industry network
• Highly analytical mind with an excellent understanding of retail math
• Excellent Microsoft Excel skills
• Strong training skills and ability to share knowledge
• Fluency in French and English, both oral and written

Skills

• Thorough understanding of the SSENSE perspective
• Trust, credibility and ability to network and negotiate
• Entrepreneurial spirit and ease in leading a dynamic environment in exponential growth
• Sense of resourcefulness and the search for solutions
• Proven ability as a high-level internal collaborator