Buying Manager

Summary

Join Abercrombie & Fitch as a Merchandise Brand Owner, leading a full merchandise brand within a single gender. You will be responsible for merchandise buys, creating APAC-exclusive product assortments, and leveraging customer preferences to advance regional business strategy. Key responsibilities include sales analysis, presenting business updates, participating in assortment reviews, and collaborating with Home Office teams. This role requires a Bachelor's degree, 6-8 years of merchandising experience, strong leadership skills, and a passion for fashion retail. The company offers a comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, health insurance, life and disability insurance, and opportunities for career advancement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or undergraduate University degree equivalent
• 6-8 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

Responsibilities

• Act as owner for a full merchandise brand/gender/key focus departments within brand/gender for Abercrombie & Fitch
• 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

Benefits

• Incentive bonus program
• Annual companywide review process
• Flexible spending accounts
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• Associate assistance program
• Paid parental and adoption leave
• Access to fertility and adoption benefits through Carrot
• Access to mental health and wellness app, Headspace
• Paid Caregiver Leave
• Mobile Stipend
• Paid time off & one paid volunteer day per year, allowing you to give back to your community
• Work from anywhere (Mondays and Fridays are “work from anywhere” days for most roles & six work from anywhere weeks per year)
• Seven associate wellness half days per year
• Merchandise discount on all of our brands
• Opportunities for career advancement, we believe in promoting from within
• Access to multiple Associate Resource Groups