Vendor Merchandise Assistant

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Signet Jewelers is the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, operating more than 2,800 stores worldwide under the iconic brands: Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Rocksbox, JamesAllen.com and Diamonds Direct. We are a people-first company and this core value is at the heart of everything we do, from empowering our valued team members, to collaborating with our customers, to fostering the communities in which we live and serve. People – and the love their actions inspire – are what drive us. We’re not only proud of the love we inspire outside our walls, we’re especially proud of the diversity, inclusion and equity we’re inspiring inside. There are dynamic career paths awaiting you – rewarding opportunities to impact the lives of others and inspire love. Join us!

The Vendor Merchandise Assistant supports the merchandise and planning organization through building and managing relationships with current vendors that supply products and services to the company. The incumbent ensures that vendors meet or exceed their contractual obligations by delivering quality products and services on time. The Vendor Merchandise Assistant contributes to the efficiency, productivity and success of the company. They keep vendors informed on developments in the organization or changes in market conditions that might affect demand for vendors’ products. They work with the vendor in production planning enabling the vendor to integrate their own production schedules with the organization’s requirements, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of excess capacity or supply shortages.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Manage external vendor relations within the Merchandise and Planning organization

• Facilitate communication with internal stakeholders, working to consistently improve efficiencies. Manage communication flow for meetings and conference calls, providing relevant agendas and follow-up notes.

• Pricing/Retail management across all internal systems and Ecommerce.

• Product and SKU management across all systems.

• Act as functional bridge between the external vendor and internal stakeholders.

• Establish vendor management tasks, informing internal partners as required, including product specification review, sample management, product test management, product set up, online management, purchase order tracking, special order facilitation and photo asset management/on-line product exposure.

• Track, measure, report and evaluate product performance, providing insights to both internal and external partners through monthly reporting across channels and the vendor builder.

• Track, measure, report and evaluate vendor performance. Coordinate and inform internal stakeholders monthly via a standardized report. (Vendor report card).

• Identify and mitigate business risk by keeping all stakeholders fully informed and able to make timely decisions.

• Troubleshoot vendor issues and present to management as required.

• Manage vendor chargebacks and QC performance, informing both internal and external partners.

• Identify improvement areas internally working with internal stakeholders to find acceptable resolutions.

• Identify, implement and continuously enhance efficiencies associated with vendor management

• Facilitate product development workflow process through all stages to ensure timely and accurate delivery at all stages through Logility including meeting follow-up, product proposal and quotations, product samples, specification worksheets, product images, product feeds, testing, and RTV notices.

• Stimulate steady process enhancement to present increasing operational efficiency in entire business partner processes.

SPECIAL PROJECTS:

• Cross Functional meeting set up for internal and external teams.

o IT, ECOM, Creative, Marketing, Special Orders, Learning & Development, Accounts Payable, etc.

• Liaison between vendor and merchandise teams to ensure all product development is on track and meeting the expectations of both parties.

• Creation of project timeline and ensuring we are staying on key dates.

• Creation of needed training documents related to the builder.

• Competitive analysis of merchandise categories across a variety of brick and mortar and ecommerce retailers.

• All SKU set up and maintenance for vendor

• Provide detailed weekly reporting about what is/is not working within product categories for merchants and vendor partner.

• Facilitate and support customer service team to ensure positive customer facing experience.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, or related field.

• 1+ years of experience in vendor management, merchandising, buying support, allocation/planning, supply chain, or retail operations.

• Working knowledge of product/SKU set up and maintenance, pricing updates, and item attributes across enterprise systems and ecommerce platforms.

• Strong organizational and project coordination skills; ability to manage multiple timelines with high attention to detail.

• Experience tracking and reporting key metrics (sales, margin, turns, in-stock, on-time delivery, defect/QC rates) and building recurring scorecards.

• Ability to identify risks (capacity, lead time, quality, data accuracy) and communicate clear recommendations to internal partners and vendors.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.

• Customer-focused mindset with sound judgment, professionalism, and the ability to handle sensitive vendor issues and chargebacks.