Assistant Manager, W's SLG Buying (Merchandising and Planning)

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Position Title:    Assistant Manager, W’s SLG Buying (Merchandising and Planning)

Reports to:       Sr. Manager of Buying

Location:         Tokyo

Key Responsibilities:

Assistant Manager of Buying owns Women’s Small Leather goods category by establishing strategic merchandise plans to achieve category KPI’s: Sales, margin, sku productivity, Inventory turn. Responsible categories may change in the future.

He / She would assort and invest in market relevant Coach Product and execute merchandise strategy. While supporting global merchandising strategies, the Merchant would also develop and refine strategic view on customer segments and behaviors in order to better position the brand and the products in the market. He / She would provide ongoing feedback around merchandise needs to Global

Buying / Merchandising

• Partner with the business owner in formulating the buying strategy and execute the buy
• Partner closely with the Inventory Management and Allocation function to review, understand and determine opportunities in future sales and investment plans
• Collaborate with Inventory Management and Allocations functions on strategies to address product liabilities and develop action plan to liquidate in a timely and profitable manner
• Effectively use existing resources and tools to monitor business on a regular basis, and report on weekly business trends and implement actions
• Conduct regular market research on industry trends, competitors, sales and product performance and include insights into strategy i.e. local price management
• Engage in ongoing communication with Global Merchandising Team on local market needs and trends, that includes but not limited to special products, new store openings and new initiatives

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Allocation team to drive an optimal stock allocation strategy that supports the merchandising plans and drive actions where needed
• Partner with Marketing to ensure key initiatives or product ideas are supported through the various communication platforms
• Collaborate with Retail Operations and Logistics to ensure programs, product placements and changes are clearly communicated
• Partner with VM on monthly floor-sets, product display and window executions to ensure the buying and assortment vision is effectively implemented at each floor-set
• Work closely with Field Training teams to enable quarterly product/new launch training
• Responsible for merchandise distribution through door profiling that maximizes sales opportunity, buys and re-order management

Education/Qualifications:

• 3+ years of Buyer (Merchandising and /or Planning) experience in fashion/sports/consumer good industry. luxury good is preferable
• Keen interest in Fashion required
• Business level of oral and written communication skills in both English and Japanese (Meeting attendance, Store communications)
• Excellent Excel skill (Excel functions such as Vlookup/Sumif/ Pivot)
• Excellent Word and Power Point skill
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Flexible / Comfortable with change & ambiguity & speed
• Action-oriented

Our Competencies for All Employees

• Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
• Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers

• Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Coach is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant’s or employee’s qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. Visit Coach at www.coach.com.