Senior Buyer

Summary

Join Stitch Fix as a Buyer II and lead our merchandising team, driving product assortment strategies. Leverage your expertise to curate on-trend products, analyze business performance, and make data-driven decisions. Collaborate with internal and external partners to achieve financial targets and enhance client experience. You will develop and manage assortments, negotiate with vendors, and lead a team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture. This role requires a Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of experience in merchandising, with a strong preference for experience in market brands and private labels. The position offers a competitive salary, benefits, and equity.

Requirements

• Have a Bachelor’s degree, with 8+ years of industry experience, diversified across multiple categories, brands and channels
• Have at least 2 years of experience managing direct reports and are excited to mentor, develop and inspire others in their career journey
• Have a keen eye for fashion trends and skillfully translate them for appropriate client segments
• Have a track record of driving a profitable business, with a focus on balanced assortments that serve your clients and broader business objectives in a strategic way

Responsibilities

• Drive the overall assortment strategies for multi-channel and multi-branded business; curate brands and products that meet client needs and deliver on financial targets for your categories
• Leverage client insights and data to build a deep understanding of client opportunities to build a best in class assortment for clients
• Conduct market research, trend analysis, and competitor benchmarking to identify brand matrix opportunities, curate product assortments, and deliver an excellent value proposition for our clients
• Develop long, mid & short term plans to maximize departmental opportunities and support overall Stitch Fix strategic priorities
• Collaborate closely with the Planning team to develop and manage assortment strategies that meet or exceed financial targets
• Cultivate effective partnerships with external brands that support long term goals and fuel short term results when needed
• Drive margin improvement initiatives and identify opportunities to maximize profitability
• Lead Vendor negotiations that support favorable cost structures, pricing strategies, and margins while delivering on great product quality
• In partnership with Planning, manage weekly sales performance, pricing strategies, and inventory levels to deliver on financial targets
• Develop pricing strategies that leverage marketing opportunities and seasonal shopping trends to deliver the right value to clients, optimize margin and improve inventory productivity
• Leverage the expertise of cross-functional Data Scientists and the vast amount of client & style-specific feedback in building a robust vision for your product categories
• Partner with internal Private Brands teams to define the strategies, processes and vision that will deliver product excellence in our Private Label assortments
• Lead cross-functional task forces in support of key strategic priorities as needed
• Support Merchandising Leadership Team with other projects and deliverables as needed
• Lead a team, with at least 2 direct reports, and provide mentorship to other team members, prioritizing development, coaching, and clear/actionable feedback
• Foster a collaborative and high-performance culture, inspiring the team to achieve individual and collective goals
• Provide guidance and hold team accountable to delivering product excellence, with a clear and consistent price/value relationship and client-first mindset

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in market brands, Private Brands (and/or DTC)
• A keen eye for fashion trends and experience in effectively commercializing these trends to serve your target consumer
• You are skilled at driving the product development process from start to finish
• Experience in creating data-driven line-plans, shopping-lists, and trend direction in order to inform vendors and/or design partners on product needs. You are versed in providing fit direction to maximize commerciality of styles
• You are versatile, having a range of experience buying across different aesthetics, price points and age groups, and can adapt product strategies accordingly
• You embrace innovation, both transformational and incremental, and thrive in an environment where taking calculated risks, testing, and reacting is the norm
• You have demonstrated success in vendor negotiations and contract management, leveraging your ability to build excellent partnerships rooted in trust
• You are an excellent story-teller, communicating product vision and financial impact in an engaging and clear manner
• You have a keen ability to effectively balance Art and Science (data) to inform strategic assortment decisions
• You are detail oriented, organized and possess effective time management skills and have proven you can thrive in a fast paced environment where bold and proactive decision making is essential
• You prioritize team development and have a track record of identifying and growing talent
• You have excellent leadership and team management skills with the ability to inspire and motivate a team
• You have excellent communication and collaboration skills to work cross-functionally and influence key stakeholders and leadership
• You are able to travel up to 30% of the time (i.e. San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York)

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Benefits
• Equity
• Grants of restricted stock units
• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Other benefits