JOB SUMMARY
The Merchandising & Purchasing Manager is responsible for leading the company’s category management function while maintaining direct ownership of an assigned product category. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines people management, merchandising strategy, inventory management, vendor negotiation, and financial accountability.
The Merchandising & Purchasing Manager leads and develops a team of Buyers, establishes clear expectations for category performance, and ensures purchasing decisions support company sales, margin, inventory, and growth objectives.
In addition to managing the team, the Merchandising & Purchasing Manager will personally manage an assigned category and will be expected to demonstrate the same standards of category ownership, analysis, planning, vendor management, and execution expected from the team.
This role requires someone who can lead people and lead the business—using data & real life experience to make decisions, identifying opportunities quickly, holding the team accountable, and acting when results are not meeting expectations.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, coach, and develop Buyers responsible for individual product categories.
- Establish clear performance expectations, priorities, deadlines, and measurable goals for the purchasing team.
- Conduct regular category reviews to evaluate sales, margin, inventory, product performance, vendor performance, and opportunities.
- Hold team members accountable for results and follow-through.
- Develop the team's ability to analyze their business, identify problems, and recommend solutions rather than simply reporting results.
- Provide ongoing coaching in negotiation, assortment planning, inventory management, vendor relationships, and financial decision-making.
- Identify development opportunities and create succession plans for high-performing team members.
- Partner with senior leadership to establish department priorities and execute company initiatives.
CATEGORY OWNERSHIP
Directly manage an assigned product category with full responsibility for its performance.
Responsibilities include:
- Develop and execute the category strategy and assortment.
- Select products and determine appropriate product mix.
- Analyze sales trends, customer demand, market opportunities, and competitive activity.
- Manage inventory levels and replenishment.
- Identify best sellers, underperforming products, and emerging opportunities.
- Develop strategies to address slow-moving and aging inventory through promotions, markdowns, or additional levers.
- Negotiate pricing, terms, discounts, freight, promotional support, exclusivity, and other vendor opportunities.
- Manage product lifecycle from introduction through discontinuation.
- Partner with Marketing, Operations, Inventory, E-Commerce, and Store Leadership to maximize category performance.
FINANCIAL & INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
- Manage purchasing decisions to achieve company sales, gross margin, inventory, and profitability goals.
- Establish and monitor category and department KPIs.
- Review open-to-buy and purchasing budgets.
- Monitor inventory levels and ensure appropriate investment by category.
- Analyze inventory turns, weeks of supply, sell-through, aging inventory, stock-outs, and excess inventory.
- Identify inventory risks early and create corrective action plans.
- Ensure purchasing decisions are supported by data, business needs, and expected return on inventory investment.
- Balance inventory availability with the financial cost of carrying inventory.
- Develop markdown, promotional, liquidation, or vendor-return strategies when necessary.
VENDOR MANAGEMENT & NEGOTIATION
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with key vendors and strategic partners.
- Lead major vendor negotiations and support Buyers/Category Managers with negotiations.
- Negotiate competitive product costs, payment terms, freight arrangements, discounts, rebates, promotional funding, exclusives, and other opportunities.
- Evaluate vendor performance based on sales, profitability, product quality, fulfillment, reliability, and partnership.
- Identify new vendors and product opportunities that support company growth.
- Hold vendors accountable for commitments, timelines, pricing, and performance.
- Consolidate or discontinue vendor relationships when they no longer meet business needs.
PRODUCT & MARKET STRATEGY
- Maintain strong knowledge of industry trends, competitive activity, emerging products, and changing customer preferences.
- Identify new categories, brands, products, and revenue opportunities.
- Evaluate the productivity of existing categories and recommend expansion, reduction, or repositioning when appropriate.
- Attend approved trade shows, vendor meetings, buying events, and industry events as needed.
- Ensure the assortment remains relevant, competitive, differentiated, and aligned with the company's customer.
- Evaluate current naming and pricing conventions and structure and make recommendations as needed.
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP
Partner closely with:
- Retail Operations
- Marketing
- E-Commerce
- Visual Merchandising
- Warehouse & Inventory
- Accounting/Finance
- Executive Leadership
Ensure product decisions are communicated effectively and that stores and supporting departments have the information necessary to successfully launch, merchandise, market, and sell products.
KPI'S
Success in this position will be measured through a combination of individual category performance and overall purchasing team performance, including:
- Sales growth
- Gross margin dollars and percentage
- Inventory turns
- Sell-through
- Weeks of supply
- Inventory aging
- Markdown performance
- Open-to-buy performance
- Vendor performance
- Category profitability
- New product performance
- Pricing strategy
- Team performance and development
- Achievement of company and department goals
LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS
The Merchandising & Purchasing Manager is expected to operate as both a leader and an owner of the business.
The successful candidate will:
- Take ownership of results rather than simply report them.
- Set clear expectations and hold people accountable.
- Address performance issues quickly and constructively.
- Make decisions using both data and sound retail judgment.
- Challenge existing practices when a better opportunity exists.
- Develop solutions before escalating problems.
- Communicate clearly across departments and levels of leadership.
- Balance strategic thinking with day-to-day execution.
- Develop strong Buyers who understand both their products and the financial performance of their business.
- Maintain a strong sense of urgency while making thoughtful purchasing and inventory decisions.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- 5+ years of progressive retail buying, purchasing, merchandising, or category management experience.
- Previous experience managing, coaching, or developing Buyers, Category Managers, or other merchandising professionals.
- Demonstrated responsibility for category sales, margin, and inventory performance.
- Strong understanding of retail math, including margin, markup, inventory turns, sell-through, weeks of supply, and open-to-buy.
- Proven vendor negotiation and relationship-management skills.
- Strong analytical and financial decision-making abilities.
- Experience managing inventory across multiple products, vendors, and locations.
- Ability to interpret sales and inventory data and translate findings into action.
- Strong organizational and project-management skills.
- Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced retail environment.
PREFERRED
- Experience in apparel or general softlines.
- Experience in a multi-location specialty retail environment.
- Experience managing both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce assortments.
- Experience with inventory management, purchasing, reporting, and business intelligence systems.
- Experience attending trade shows and sourcing new vendors/products.
- Bachelor's degree in business, planning & merchandising, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
We believe great talent comes in many forms and that there is no one size fits all in hiring. If you feel you may be a great fit for this role but do not check all of the boxes, we encourage you to apply and show us why you're the right candidate for this position.
Why You’ll Love working with us:
- PTO
- 6 paid holidays
- Medical, dental, vision benefits
- 401(k) retirement savings
- Employee discount
Our commitment to creating a sense of belonging means we welcome individuals of all abilities, ages, citizenships, educations, ethnicities, family statuses, gender identities, genders, genetic information, languages, marital status, military experiences, political views, pregnancy, races, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, socioeconomic statuses, and work experiences and therefore we encourage applicants from diverse lived experiences to apply.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $90,000.00 - $110,000.00 per year
Education:
Willingness to travel:
Work Location: In person
