Trading Analyst - 12-month FTC

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles. 

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible. Tapestry has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive.

Primary Purpose: The Trading Analyst plays a key role in shaping the strategy and decision-making of pricing, discount rates and promotions for Kate Spade’s Outlet and Retail business in Europe. Reporting to the Outlet Buying Manager, the Analyst partners closely with Outlet & Retail Buying teams to assess the impact of pricing, discounting, and promotional strategies on sales performance and margin. The Analyst provides actionable insights and recommendations to optimize metrics within agreed discount rates. In addition to strategic analysis, the Analyst is responsible for the execution of pricing decisions, collaborating with Finance, Store Operations, and Store teams to ensure accurate implementation.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Pricing & Promotions to:

• Partner with Kate Spade Buying Managers to develop pricing and promotional strategies to drive key KPIs of sales, inventory, AUR, discount rates and margin, ensuring alignment with and achievement of overall company objectives
• Action weekly system price changes for all product areas by partnering with relevant Buying Managers and owning weekly approval process
• Create weekly trade reports and ensure upcoming weekly price changes and promotions are presented in weekly trade meetings with supporting data to validate
• Liaise with Buying and Store Operations teams to ensure changes to prices and promotions are clearly communicated to the stores via the weekly transmittal process
• Own the analysis of pricing and promotional decision-making and deliver data-driven recommendations to the Buying Manager and Director, focusing on key metrics including discount rates, gross margin, sales per traffic, AUR and presenting scenarios to impact DR % for in-season trading
• Coordinate and communicate the pricing strategy for clearance periods and consider market restrictions within agreed timeframes
• Liaise with VM weekly, monthly and quarterly to ensure in-store signage exists to support promotions
• Review Kate Spade Europe premiums yearly analysis across Retail & Outlet channels
• Maintain accurate pricing master files for the Outlet channel and action all system changes to activate price changes and promotions in a timely and accurate manner
• Maintain trackers and approvals for auditing purposes, taking accountability for weekly price approvals and actioning within agreed timeframes
• Own and maintain promotional calendars and communicate with Buying, Marketing and Stores weekly, monthly and quarterly
• Load markdowns ahead of clearance periods, including Black Friday and end of season periods
• Work alongside Area/Regional Managers, Ecommerce and Marketplace teams to lead and influence promotional and event calendars in line with the overall pricing and promotional strategy
• Oversee the end-to-end execution of pricing updates, ensuring accurate system maintenance and clear communication across the business to support seamless implementation
• Support Buying Managers with weekly and monthly financial planning and provide analysis on key merchandising metrics across all channels
• Liaise with external partners for Outlet to share the Kate Spade strategy and ensure alignment in key calendar moments

The accomplished individual will possess:

• Minimum 3–6 years of relevant experience in Pricing Analysis, Merchandising, Planning, or Financial Analysis, ideally within a retail environment
• Strong understanding of the European retail landscape, with experience in full-price or outlet pricing models and familiarity with trading laws related to pricing
• Strong Excel skills, including proficiency in building analytical tools and reports using functions such as VLOOKUP, PivotTables, and SUMIF
• Analytical mindset with the ability to solve problems logically and deliver actionable recommendations
• Proven track record of process improvement, with experience identifying opportunities and implementing effective solutions
• Solid grasp of retail math and key commercial metrics
• Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with confidence in engaging stakeholders across various levels and functions
• Self-motivated and collaborative, capable of working independently while contributing to team goals

What Kate Spade can offer you: 

• Hybrid working (3 days working from the office, 2 days remote)
• Option to finish early on a Friday (Flex Fridays)
• 1 Paid Volunteering Day per year and opportunities to volunteer with global projects
• Learning & Development opportunities
• Internal mobility & career progression
• Regular Social Events - Seasonal & Cultural
• Equity Inclusion & Diversity initiatives which include employee resource groups & regional inclusion council

Other benefits include: 

• 25 days holiday in addition to bank holidays
• Multi brand discount up to 50% off Coach & Kate Spade New York
• Private Healthcare with health assessment (Bupa)
• Bupa rewards - Financial wellbeing support and wellness discounts
• Private Dental Cover
• Free 24/7 support for family building, fertility and menopause with Maven 
• Eyecare vouchers
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employer Pension Contribution
• Gym discount

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.

Kate Spade 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 the 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 Kate Spade at www.katespade.com