Location: United Kingdom
State/Province/City: London
City: London
Business Unit: Store Support Centre (SSC)
Time Type: Full-time
Assistant Buyer
Description & Requirements
Who we are
lululemon is an innovative performance apparel company foryoga, running, training, and other athletic pursuits. Setting the bar intechnical fabrics and functional design, we create transformational productsand experiences that support people in moving, growing, connecting, and beingwell. We owe our success to our innovative product, emphasis on stores,commitment to our people, and the incredible connections we make in everycommunity we're in. As a company, we focus on creating positive change to builda healthier, thriving future. In particular, that includes creating anequitable, inclusive and growth-focused environment for our people.
About this team
Reporting to the Buying Manager, the Assistant Buyer isresponsible for the assortment, execution and depth of the buy of theirspecific product category across all channels. The Assistant Buyer isresponsible for supporting the team with strategic assortment planning,determining locally relevant assortments and being a competitive market expertfor their particular region. This person will lead effective partnerships withPlanning, Allocations, Visual Merchandising, Digital and Retail Operations todeliver “right product, right stores, right time”. The Assistant Buyer role isthe stepping stone to Buyer through experience and time in role
Core responsibilities
- Working with the Buyer - you lead the in-season managementof your product category, through sales analysis, flow management, producteducation, chase, cancellations, markdowns and exit
- You work with the Buyer to formulate and define localpricing strategies
- You act as the primary point of contact for product feedbackfrom your region’s product category
- You support the quarterly product reviews (“meltdown”) foryour product category, delivering on timely, measurable, and actionablefeedback
- You proactively gather, analyse and drive insight from localmarket knowledge and competitive landscape across all channels
- Using the preliminary Global Assortment to support buyer,create a compelling, locally relevant product assortment for the region’s storeclusters
- You are a “market expert” in your product category andregion for all channels and can effectively communicate key data points withbuyer, including merchandising strategies, athletic and fashion trends, pricingand competition that inform the global product strategy
- You contribute to the financial success of the region bymeeting and exceeding sales, gross margin and inventory productivity goalsthrough all channels (stores, ecommerce) through the effective partnership withPlanning team.
Qualifications
- Min. 1-2 years’ experience in retail in an assistant buyer,merchant or buying role
- Bachelor’s degree qualified (Business, commerce preferred)
- Vertical retail and omni-channel experience highly desirable
- Mastery of retail mathematics and Open to Buy
- Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpretmultiple data points across numerous channels and market segments
- Proven ability to work with a cross functional team
- Excellent sense of style and color trends; athleticallyminded
- Excellent communication skills - interpersonal, written andverbal
- Entrepreneurship – an ability to make decisions and takecalculated risks
- Focus on creating an extraordinary guest experience,organizational and time management skills
- Strong knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel and Outlook)
- Self-awareness, with a desire for constant self-improvement(goal-oriented)
- Willingness to travel and work on the retail floor
Must haves:
- Acknowledges the presence of choice in every moment andtakes personal responsibility for their life.
- Possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and continuouslyinnovates to achieve great results.
- Communicates with honesty and kindness and creates the spacefor others to do the same.
- Leads with courage, knowing the possibility of greatness isbigger than the fear of failure.
- Fosters connection by putting people first and buildingtrusting relationships.
- Integrates fun and joy as a way of being and working, akadoesn’t take themselves too seriously.
Only those applicants under consideration will be contacted. Please accept our utmost appreciation for your interest. lululemon is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit and business needs, and not on race, color, creed, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, military service, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions or any other classification protected by federal, state or provincial and local laws and ordinances. Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities, upon request. This Equal Employment Opportunity policy applies to all practices relating to recruitment and hiring, compensation, benefits, discipline, transfer, termination and all other terms and conditions of employment. While management is primarily responsible for seeing that lululemon equal employment opportunity policies are implemented, you share in the responsibility for assuring that, by your personal actions, the policies are effective.
lululemon is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you would like someone from our team to contact you for individualized support, email us ataccommodations@lululemon.com. In your email, please include the position title, the location of the position and the nature of your request.