Associate Buyer, Merchant Marketing Lead

**Sporting Life**

Sporting Life is a leading, iconic Canadian sports lifestyle retailer. Since 1979, we've been committed to providing our customers and their families with the best possible experience—and we are continuously working to improve it every day. We offer the best in outdoor apparel and fashion, footwear, equipment and accessories for men, women and kids. The mix of sport and fashion is what makes us unique.

YOU live for the great Canadian outdoors and take pride in
_living the Sporting Life_. You relish in the exhilarating experience of skiing, snowboarding, cycling, running, tennis, hiking and camping and want to inspire our customers to do the same. You believe in the spirit of team, adapting to the ever-changing retail environment, being part of constant innovation and working alongside the best leaders, associates and vendors in the business. We are looking for those who live what we sell every day and who celebrate the love of sport and an active way of living.

**Job Title: Associate Buyer - Merchant Marketing Lead**

**Reports To: Vice President, Apparel**

As the Associate Buyer - Merchant Marketing Lead, you will be responsible for supporting the Vice President by coordinating and consolidating Merchant team initiatives across divisions and communicating out to cross functional teams. In addition the Associate Buyer identifies and supports the merchant teams in the purchasing of products for Deal of the Day, Weekly promotional offers, extended aisle and opportunity buys.

**Your Responsibilities**
- Identifies unproductive inventories (i.e., discontinued, excess, etc.) and works with merchants and the sales channels to sell through these inventories in a timely manner;
- Consolidates and communicates weekly, monthly and seasonally merchant marketing initiatives to the marketing and operations teams. Acts as the key contact between marketing and merchant teams.
- Work with Merchant team to schedule Deal of the Day with input from merchant teams and by providing support with opportunity buys as needed.
- Provide support with building merchandise assortment and allocation strategies that generate high sales, profit and inventory turnover for eComm channel;
- Assist in the development, coordination and review of merchandise assortments by door/network;
- Collaborate with the store, buyer and planning teams on the implementation of assortment, allocation, space and replenishment strategies;
- Create reports to analyze sales, margin, and inventory along with SKU maintenance to support category initiatives at the store level & eComm
- Business analysis and trends for eComm.
- New store planning - product execution, process paperwork to execute plan, coordinate product and acquire supporting product needs;
- Initiate and manage changes to purchase orders;
- Monitors designated replenishment styles by store & eComm
- Act as operations support at the store level.
- Assist stores with questions related to price changes/receiving/promotions.

Manage extended aisle
- Lead positions assigned as needed
- Ensure the daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly checklists are being reviewed and managed by POD.
- Manage the Deal of the Day program, drive sales and margin with buys that support the business strategy

**What You Offer**
- A love of fashion, sport and a healthy, active lifestyle
- Post-secondary education (University preferred) with a focus on retail, marketing or finance;
- 3-5 years’ work experience in retail planning, buying or merchandising;
- Proven analytical and problem-solving abilities;
- Detailed orientated with a sense of urgency to follow-up;
- Ability to multi-task and easily adapt to current business trends;
- Business knowledge of retail inventory management, merchandising concepts and operations;
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to work in a fast-paced, team environment;
- Bachelor’s degree in retail, marketing or finance preferred.

**Who You Are**
- You live for the great Canadian Outdoors
- You live for Skiing, Snowboarding, Cycling, Running and Tennis
- The mix of fashion and sport is what makes us unique
- You believe in the spirit of team, joining leaders, being part of constant innovation and working alongside the best staff and vendors in the business

**What We Provide**
- Access to the best brands and vendors including training and learning opportunities
- Competitive compensation
- Amazing product discounts
- Professional growth and development

**Sporting Life is #unlikeanystoreintheworld**
- Sporting Life Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and committed to providing accommodations for persons with disabilities. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, please advise the Sporting Life Human Resources team of any accommodations required to ensure fair and equitable access through the recruitment and selection process._
- #SL123_