Associate, Buyer

At ASICS, our Sound Mind, Sound Body™ philosophy is more than a tagline, it's our way of life. Over 75 years ago our founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, saw that sport and movement had the power to lift spirits, project positivity, and propel people and whole communities forward.

ASICS provides a diverse and inclusive culture that enables learning, growth, and opportunity at all levels. Our robust employee benefits allow for real work-life balance and a strong sense of community. We empower our employees to pursue their career goals. If this sounds like you, then we want you on our team.

A Brief Overview

Reporting to the Retail Buyer the DTC Associate Buyer is responsible for supporting the Direct toConsumer (DTC) sales, growth targets, margin, and inventory turn across all direct-to-consumer ecommerce sales channels. This position will support the execution of strategic vision, with a progressive, customer centric-approach all while delivering on sales & profit objectives. This role requires the ability to leverage data to identify opportunities and develop product assortment strategies. The Associate Buyer will be responsible for managing a specific subcategory of product in the retail channel. The Associate Buyer will partner closely with the Director of Buying, and the omnichannel Buyers in all aspects of the buying process. They will deliver insights and data to drive future product assortments and seasonal plans, aligned with digital strategy & growth objectives. They will partner closely with cross functional partners in the direct to consumer team including buyers, associate buyers, assistant buyers, planning, allocation, merchandising, visual store merchandising, site merchandising, marketing, & analytics to strengthen the best in class product on all channels, and combine knowledge of marketplace trends with sales data to help identify incremental business opportunities. A successful candidate will make "company first" decisions, develop self by participating in ongoing professional development & training. They will seek out innovative solutions to existing, product, customer, and/or company challenges. Finally, they will communicate with candor & value open debate to ensure the best ideas come to life and lastly, drive strong communication and organizational relationships

Leadership Responsibilities

• This position does not have people leadership responsibilities.

What You'll Do

• Support in building & manage monthly forecasting and merchandise assortments to align with company strategies, market & consumer trends. Manage inventory targets, store capacities, and pricing strategies to achieve profitability and key KPIs.
• Support alignment between full price and outlet buyers, ecommerce buyers and DTC planners to ensure product segmentation and allocation between all direct to consumer channels. Partner with retail allocation, visual merchandising and store operations to ensure successful product launches
• Constantly evaluate pricing & promotions, and product inventory flow and deliveries across multiple sales channels to achieve sales, inventory, and margin targets. Closely partner with manager to proactively identify opportunities & execute price adjustments and weekly promotions.
• Execute monthly forecasting and buy plans for designated sub category.
• Analyze business and sales trends utilizing existing and new selling reports and provide recommendations for business improvements and efficiencies.
• Ensure new store assortments are turned over to the Allocation team in time and that the purchase/distro orders are updated accordingly.
• Create purchase orders at size level to ensure adequate levels of inventory. Work with logistics team to track purchase orders to ensure monthly/seasonal product launches. Transfer inventory between DTC segments to ensure proper selling
• Analyze retail market/competition. Perform competitive market research and comp store visit hindsight presentations.
• Compile data and images as needed to develop seasonal strategies, hindsight business reviews, monthly and seasonal buy reviews and weekly sales recaps to share with cross functional teams.
• Be a student of business and brand, continually search out learning opportunities.
• Adheres to all company policies and procedures
• Embodies and demonstrates company ethics and values
• Abides by all federal, state and local laws

How You'll Be Successful

• Experience in Retail Buying and/or Planning experience preferred
• Strong knowledge in retail math acumen, including elements of markup, margin planning, open to buy, and inventory productivity measures.
• Experience with systems similar to SAP, BI systems preferred. Strong Excel skills.
• Exceptional analytical skills, but also the ability to make qualitative assessments of past performance, current performance, and expected trends.
• Excellent communication, organization skills & attention to detail
• Collaborate with all levels throughout the ECommerce & retails teams including but not limited to: buying, marketplaces team, planning, allocation, visual merchandising, store operations, web merchandising, content creation and retail district managers.
• Self motivated and flexible with a strong sense of urgency, able to work both independently and on a team
• Ability to multi-task, be flexible, and adapt in a frequently changing and fast paced environment

What You'll Need

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) in Retail, Business, or a related discipline) or equivalent combination of education, experience, and training required
• 2-3 years buying experience in a retail environment required
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Excellent communication, organizational, and follow-up skills. Ability to work independently, prioritize work assigned, and meet deadlines.

SALARY / PAY RANGE: Min: $63,000 Max: $70,000

PAY TRANSPARENCY:

To encourage pay transparency, promote pay equity, and proactively address regulations, ASICS America Corporation will comply with all applicable state or local laws or regulations which require employers to provide pay or salary range information to job applicants and employees. A posted salary/pay range applies to the current job posting. Salary/pay offers may be based on key factors such as education and related experience.

ASICS CCPA Pre-Collection Notice for Job Applications: We collect personal information (PI) from you in connection with your application for employment with ASICS America Corporation, including the following categories of PI: identifiers, personal records, professional or employment information, and inferences drawn from your PI. We collect your PI for our purposes, including performing services and operations related to your potential employment. For additional details or if you have questions, contact us at hrccpa@asics.com.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employee(s) assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employee(s) assigned to this job. ASICS America Corporation reserves the right at any time, with or without notice, to alter or change job responsibilities, reassign or transfer job position or assign additional job responsibilities within your general skill set or capabilities. ASICS America Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.