Associate Buyer

Job Description:

What Will You Be Doing?

• Within a single gender, act as owner for a full merchandise brand/gender/key focus departments within brand/gender for Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister Co.
• Lead merchandise buys and distortions for relevant department, leveraging APAC customer preferences and advancing regional business strategy while preserving brand identity and priorities
• Create the high-level architecture for a APAC-exclusive product assortment (expected to be 10-20% of total APAC assortment by SKUs) while ensuring items are consistent with overall brand strategy and identity, and also will be top volume drivers in the APAC assortment.
• Be the expert in current selling analysis and historical selling knowledge for the region
  • Leverage financial and strategic capabilities to influence promotions, pricing, product placement, etc. as well as product development and assortments
• Intimately understand APAC customers’ preferences and interests by observing shopping patterns, regularly shopping competitors, and monitoring media platforms
• Execute against key milestones / seasonal processes:
  • Following each season, execute a detailed hindsight / strategic line review process at the department level to inform future strategy and identify line list needs for design
  • Present weekly selling / business updates as part of a regular Monday review process, evaluating performance, proposing tactical improvements, and consolidating results into a summary to be shared with the Home Office
  • Participate in central assortment reviews on a seasonal basis, contributing ideas, identifying top items, and preparing for seasonal buys
  • Participate in monthly Chase / Buy / Cut reviews to provide a regional perspective on key products and fine-tune assortments
  • Participate in monthly MPC meetings, working with team to identify upsides and risks to the plan
  • Connect remotely and in-person with Home Office Visual Merchandising teams to coordinate floorsets
• Partner with Home Office teams to ensure APAC-exclusive assortment is on track throughout the product development process, carrying out consistent updates and communicating effectively both remotely and in-person

What Do You Need To Bring?

• Bachelor’s or undergraduate University degree equivalent
• 3-5 years of Merchandising or Buying experience, preferably in apparel
• Proven leadership experience and ability to thrive in team-based settings
• Passion for the merchant role, fashion retail, customer research, and the Abercrombie & Fitch Co. brands
• Desire to take ownership for a portion of a global multi-billion-dollar business
• An acute eye for product and trend
• A deep understanding of sales analysis and financial metrics that relate to your business
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to communicate confidently to leadership
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed by the department
• A high comfort-level with analytical sales tools and proficiency in Microsoft Office applications
• A collaborative approach to working with cross-functional partners to achieve the vision of the brand

Company Description

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (A&F Co.) is a global, digitally led omnichannel specialty retailer of apparel and accessories catering to kids through millennials with assortments curated for their specific lifestyle needs.

The company operates a family of brands, including Abercrombie brands and Hollister brands, each sharing a commitment to offer products of enduring quality and exceptional comfort that support global customers on their journey to being and becoming who they are. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. operates stores under these brands across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as the e-commerce sites abercrombie.com, abercrombiekids.com and hollisterco.com.

Learn more about A&F Co. by visiting our corporate website here.

ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO. IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.