Kipling Assistant Buyer, Retail

Kipling is searching for an Assistant Buyer (10-Month Contract) to support our Retail buying team. This is an exciting opportunity for a self-motivated team player to add immediate value to a growing global brand. A strong candidate is open to learning, highly organized with strong time management skills, has keen attention to detail and accuracy with an interest in fashion and trends. This is a rare opportunity for someone to grow and learn from a seasoned Buying team with a shared passion for excellence.

Join the Kipling Family

We are on a mission. To live a vibrant and colorful – go places never been before. Be curious. Dare to live the life we’ve always wanted. That’s our mission. Well, you may say: It’s just bags. Yes, that may be true. But sometimes it’s the simple things that make life easier.

Exploring the world with curiosity. We empower you to go your own way. That’s why we inject all our creativity and out-of-the box thinking developing thoughtful designs with a casual coolness. Simply put, we design bags that inspire mobility and lighten your life.

Kipling, founded in 1987, is a leading European lifestyle brand with design-driven products sold in more than 80 countries worldwide. The product line includes handbags, luggage, backpacks, and accessories.

Our success story started in ’87 in the heart of the fashion capital Antwerp with the iconic crinkled nylon bags. Today Kipling’s well-known bags and accessories are available around the world in 436 stores in 80 countries and can be found in more than 7500 shops including the best department-stores, and kipling.com

Retail Assistant Buyer (10-Month Contract)

How You Will Make a Difference

What you will do:

Support the Buying team to ensure seasonal strategies and in season business is executed in order to achieve financial targets.

Focus on the Full Price channel, learning and managing the day to day buying responsibilities, including reporting & analysis, assortment tools and sku counts, and seasonal hindsighting .

Conduct weekly sales analysis and make recommendations for pricing, promotions, and inventory optimization.

Manage receipt reconciliation, create purchase orders, maintain sku definitions, and organize samples.

Work closely with cross-functional partners to ensure a seamless execution of floor sets.

How you will do it:

Immerse yourself in the brand, products, and store environment.

Collaborate with Merchandising, Visual, and Marketing to bring the seasonal assortment to life in store.

Quickly learn about our tools and our process (AS400, Excel, etc.).

Partner with Planning on sales and model stock forecasting trends.

Get to know our customer and our store teams.

What success looks like:

Consistently meets deadlines with excellent communication skills.

Constant learning and adjusting to consumer demand and market trends.

High accuracy and efficient time management skills to manage product lifecycle.

Achieve financial targets including sales, inventory and profit objectives.

Free To Be, Inclusion & Diversity

As a purpose-led, performance driven company, we strive to foster a culture of belonging based on respect, connection, openness and authenticity. We are committed to building and maintaining a workplace that celebrates the diversity of our associates, allowing them to bring their authentic selves to work every day.

Skills for Success

4-year Bachelor degree preferred

1-3 years of related industry experience preferred

Foundational knowledge of retail math

Self Starter – must manage up, be action oriented and self sufficient

Team player- no task is too big or too small on our growing team

Detail driven with strong analytical skills

Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel is required, Power BI a plus

Comfortable juggling and coordinating multiple projects with competing priorities

Detailed job description

Responsibilities:

Manage day-to-day business of the Buying Team and manage product lifecycle of each sku from adoption to complete sell through that will include creating sku and purchase orders in AS400, key promotional changes, and organizing samples .

Run weekly, monthly, and quarterly selling reports and assist in recapping and analyzing Full Price Store’s business, making promotion recommendations to improve in season performance and identifying product opportunities and wins.

Build and maintain seasonal assortment tools and sku counts as well as partner with the Buyer in creating a consumer centric assortment for Full Price stores that will meet financial targets with the potential to manage buys independently over time.

Maximize sales and inventory turn by coordinating with Planning and Allocations teams on consolidations and model stock levels to drive continuous positive results.

Influence category assortments by analyzing product performance, customer feedback/data, and consumer trends by market/region and sharing with global merchandising and design team.

Effectively communicate the seasonal message and big ideas to marketing and visual partners to ensure product tells a compelling message in store with signage and windows to support.

Work closely with Visual Partners to support timely execution of each floorset.

Provide seasonal teaching tools to store managers to facilitate high level of product knowledge allowing for successful selling.

Daily/ Weekly Jobs:

Monday style and store selling and midweek style selling.

Update Selling file weekly.

Work closely with Buyer to write a business recap for our business weekly deck.

Ensure NOS skus are at optimal inventory levels.

Promo change

Creation of MD chart

Communication write up for the Klubhouse

Enter markdowns into IP

Update promo calendar

Update database

Floorsets

Ensure samples are pulled for seasonal kick off meeting with visual

Provide ongoing product and seasonal assortment to visual team

Discuss big ideas with team and items to feature

APS file is passed to Allocation (at the beginning of each season)

Inventory management

Transfers to/from ecom/outlet/wholesale as needed

Manage Sku Lifecycle

AS400 POS system – Create sku, create PO, key in promotions (include fixing price discrepancies by store).

Maintain Style Master Data/Database in excel.

Organize sample closet

Seasonal Projects:

Seasonal buys – update sku framework and maintain Lineplanner (assortment tool)

Seasonal big ideas kick off for marketing and visual team

Seasonal creative requests

Signage

Product knowledge

Seasonal hindsights

Data pull + pivot/compare chart building

Best and worst deck

Sample pulling

Monthly leadership calls—deck

Flip database to represent current season

Hiring Range:$0.00 USD - $0.00 USD annually

Benefits at VF Corporation: You can review a general overview of each benefit program offered, including this year's medical plan rates on and by clicking Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process.

Please note, our hiring ranges are determined and built from market pay data. In determining the specific compensation for this position, we comply with all local, state, and federal laws.

At VF, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws. If you are unable to submit your application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at . VF will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities to the extent required by applicable law.

Pursuant to all applicable local Fair Chance Ordinance requirements, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, VF will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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