Assistant Buyer

Columbia Sportswear Company; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

401k with company match

Healthcare benefits

Job summary

Columbia Sportswear Company invites an Assistant Buyer to join our buying team in a hybrid HQ-based role near Portland. You’ll support seasonal strategies, build and maintain reporting, and collaborate with product line managers, allocation, planning, and store ops.

You’ll use Excel and PowerPoint to prepare documentation, analyze data, and inform merchandising decisions; Illustrator experience is a plus. You’ll develop visual assortments, manage pricing/promotions in season, and contribute to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, applicable certification, or equivalent experience.
• 1–3 years of buying experience, retail merchandising, merchandise planning, or allocation.
• Excellent Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skills.
• Strong understanding of retail industry metrics and performance indicators.
• Strong communication and presentation skills; Illustrator experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide accurate data enabling teams to analyze business trends and take action.
• Support in-season management and seasonal buys via documentation and data analysis.
• Participate in cross-functional meetings to inform merchandising decisions.
• Create product catalogs to support seasonal strategy and upload orders.
• Reconcile seasonal buys and assist with pricing and promotions as needed.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Creative mindset

Interpersonal communication

Time management

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Illustrator

Job description

This position is designated as a hybrid role based out of our headquarters near Portland, Oregon. The current expectation is for employees to work onsite four days per week, subject to change based on business needs. This in-office requirement may be adjusted at the discretion of the company.ABOUT THE POSITIONAs an Assistant Buyer and key member of the buying team, you’ll support execution of seasonal buying strategies to achieve sales and gross margin goals. Your responsibilities will include data analytics, building and maintaining advanced reporting, and preparing and disseminating weekly, monthly, and seasonal documents.Within this role, you’ll work with your direct manager to learn and contribute to all facets of the go-to-market process. This includes working with cross functional partners such as product line managers, allocation, planning, in store marketing, visual merchandising, and store operations teams. You will build visual assortment tools and multi-year historical data analysis to inform the seasonal buy strategies. In season tasks will be focused on managing pricing and promotions along with supporting the greater team with accurate reporting and analytics using PBI dashboards and excel.HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCEProvide accurate data enabling teams to analyze current business trends and take action as neededSupport direct manager with in-season management, and support varied team members with seasonal buys across planning and execution by preparing documentation, collecting and analyzing data, and creating visual documentationParticipate in cross-functional meetings to gather key information and execute merchandising decisionsCreate product catalogs to support seasonal strategy for leadership product reviews and retail stores, upload orders and reconcile seasonal buysYOU AREWell-versed in interpersonal communicationAnalytical and creative, balancing both skills to create an assortmentAble to exercise effective time managementResourceful, resilient, and confidentYOU HAVEBachelor’s degree, applicable certification, or equivalent experience1-3 years of buying experience, retail merchandising, merchandise planning or allocationExcellent Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skillsProven understanding of retail industry and retail specific metricsSolid communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as excellent presentation skillsIllustrator experience preferred#LI-CS1#LI-hybridThis job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.Columbia Sportswear Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf. If you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding. Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community. Benefits that can protect your family’s financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match. Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services). In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.If you need an accommodation/adjustment to successfully complete and submit your application, please reach out to [e-mail] with the Subject: Applicant Assistance Requested.