Buyer - Canada, Aerie

PRIMARY POSITION DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE: Buyer, aerie Canada

REPORTS TO: Sr. Director, aerie Global Merchandising

BASED IN: Toronto

SUMMARY
- Curates a commercially viable geo-channel assortment for aerie Inc. partnering with Global Merchandising and Global Planning to meet the competitive and commercial needs of the Canadian market.
- Manage and spearhead in-season and future assortment strategy and opportunity with the cross functional teams’ partnership.

RESPONSIBILITIES
- Partners with Sr. Director and Country LT to ensure product strategies are in line with overall business strategy.
- Reports on the business through weekly business analysis and recaps. Makes recommendations due to changes in trend and business in order to maximize sales/margin opportunities.
- Understands weekly/monthly business trends and utilizes this in conjunction with geo expertise to influence roadmap
- Collaboratively works with the Aerie Global Merchandising team to understand seasonal design direction, leading product ideas, and trend
- Identifies key item opportunities to grow the business through product testing and hindsight
- Innovate through trend ideas which allow AEO to lead and compete within the global market
- Partner with Country LT to brief programs for peak international business opportunities by market, ex: CNY, Passover, Ramadan
- Understand climate requirements by market, such as reverse seasonality, early product flow; build into the strategy
- Generate unit projections for any required programs to secure fabric, costing and/or capacity
- Ensure product assortment is commercially viable and aligned with AEO Brands’ seasonal vision
- Direct and drive seasonal buy conversations during International Market through business and geography expertise
- In partnership with Global Merchandising, be informed on full product detail (incl. fit, fabric, price, costing, and omni strategy) and able to share as necessary
- Drive segmentation strategies to ensure each market has the right product, in the right place, at the right time across stores & digital.
- In partnership with International Visual Merch, map small/mid/large format locations to ensure ideas are intact as presented
- Understanding and decision making capabilities related to assortment & strategy at all points within the season:

- Pre-Season: Roadmap direction, cc counts by category, grow/maintain/decline categories, US financials (where appropriate) in conjunction with milestone meetings
- In-Season: Action changes communicated by Global Merchandising; which includes chase additions, drops, style and/or color changes, etc. Buyer responsible for working with planning on chase, cancel, re-flow strategy, or adjustments as necessary, partnership in leaseline decisions, communication and execution
- Supports Sr. Director in identification of gaps within the existing assortment architecture and pricing strategy utilizing competitive analysis and resources, ex. Edited
- Manages shipping; partners with Inventory Planning to make sure inventory is flowing as planned
- React to in season business by pulling up / pushing out product as needed; lead communication & touchpoints with CFT (digital & stores)

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

- Total sales
- Margin performance
- Product mix in key brand growth departments: leggings & bras
- Receipt management

AUTHORITY
- Supervises Associate Buyer, aerie Canada
- Builds, develops, coaches, and mentors talent within the team, to drive a high-performance organization that fully supports the international vision of growth

QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Merchandising, Business, or equivalent required
- 5-7 years prior buying experience from a specialty retailer
- 2+ years of experience in a leadership role
- Experience leading teams in multi-store/multi-channel/specialty retail brands is required, with working outside of the United States a strong plus
- Impeccable verbal/written communication and persuasion skills; proven ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment
- Excellent analytical and creative skills to challenge the planning and design sides of the organization
- Demonstrate poise, tact and diplomacy (coolness and composure under strain, confidence without arrogance)
- Strong business acumen and strategic agility; demonstrated ability to immediately identify areas of the business that need attention as well as areas that do not; proven ability to support growth in a very fast growing and evolving business environment.
- Demonstrated collaborative skills and ability to work well within a team. Comfortable and effective when working with senior executives, including C-level. Ability to work with and influence peers, franchise partners, and senior management
- Self-motivated with critical attention to detail, deadlines and reporting
- Understanding of fashion designer labels and how to interpret their seasonal stories/messages for the AE & Aerie customer both domestically and interna