Assistant Buyer, Men's Shoes and Accessories

Saks Fifth Avenue; United States; On-site; USD 59,000 - 79,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Employee discount

Job summary

Saks Fifth Avenue, part of Exemplar Luxury Group, is seeking an Assistant Buyer to support vendor selections, monitor inventory productivity, and analyze profitability. You will assist in pricing changes and online entry while coordinating with Buyers and brand partners across the order cycle.

You will help with market preparation, trend insights, and allocation support for high-touch categories, contributing to sales growth and brand presentation across stores and e-commerce.

Qualifications

• 1-2 years’ experience as an Assistant Buyer (preferred in a major department store).
• Strong knowledge of retail math concepts: markup, margin, open-to-buy and inventory productivity measures.
• Excellent MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Google Suite skills.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with Buyers, Associate Buyers, and brand partners to gather and confirm order details.
• Oversee offshore teams in PO creation and ensure timely, accurate transmission to brand partners.
• Provide allocation direction to Planning Allocation for high-touch categories.
• Monitor inventory performance and support pricing changes and market prep activities.

Skills

Retail math

Data analysis

Vendor management

Excel/MS Office

Communication skills

Tools

RFS system

AMS

PCW

NuOrder

Job description

Salary Range $59,000 - $79,000*

Job Description:

WHO WE ARE:

Exemplar Luxury Group is the largest multi-brand luxury retailer in the world, comprising Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks OFF 5TH. Powered by our talented colleagues, we are redefining luxury shopping by offering each customer a personalized experience across our store network and e-commerce platforms. Through strong partnerships with the world’s most esteemed brands, cutting-edge technology and the industry’s most comprehensive luxury customer data, Saks Global is shaping the future of retail.

YOU WILL BE:

As the Assistant Buyer, you are a motivated individual who will participate in vendor selections and partnerships. The Assistant Buyer will assist in providing information for the monitoring of inventory productivity, and the analysis of vendor profitability, while providing data and analysis for price changes, and assist in entering price changes online.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

Order Management

• Liaise with Buyers, Associate Buyers, and brand partners to gather and confirm order details (e.g., item details, shipping details, delivery schedules, order prioritization), manage updates to buy sheets, and resolve discrepancies
• Oversee offshore Merchandise Assistants’ creation and transmission of purchase orders to brand partners, ensuring timely delivery and accuracy of order details, overseeing communication between Merchandise Assistants and brand partners, and resolving or escalating any issues raised
• Provide allocation direction to the Planning Allocation team and help manage allocations for high-touch categories such as Designer
• Manage communication of receipt flow changes to the offshore team and ensure POs are maintained to ensure accurate view of ship windows, order quantities, and on-order

Market Preparation

• Prepare Buyers for Market through working with Planners to provide comprehensive insights on historical performance (e.g., best and worst sellers by door), emerging trends, customer preferences, coordinating market appointments and periodically attending NY market
• Support Buyer in style-out sessions including coordinating logistics and preparing insights to support assortment presentation
• Initiate the development of strategic product assortments to drive sales and brand growth

Bottoms-Up In-Season Analysis

• Act as primary point of contact on execution questions and feedback from brand partners, visual merchandising, site merchandising, stores, digital, marketing (incl. promos), planning (incl. pricing)
• Constantly review business performance in close collaboration with Assistant Planners, communicating bottoms-up style insights to Buyers, recommending in-season actions (e.g., ask the vendor for ATS on sold out item) and helping to prepare for monthly OTB
• Manage markdown cadence and oversee offshore execution of price changes (frequency varies by category), RTVs, etc. and resolve any escalated issues
• Collaborate with offshore reporting team to generate custom Buying reports, maintaining structural changes to views and ensuring timeline delivery by offshore teams on expected cadences

WHAT YOU WILL BRING:

Required Qualifications (Minimum Requirements):

• Manages ambiguity well, self starter, and is able to thrive in a fast paced environment
• Strong accountability, and ability to multitask and prioritize independently
• Generates a variety of approaches to problem solving quickly including new and novel ideas.
• Strong interpersonal skills and can be both direct but diplomatic and gain trust from others quickly.
• You often go above and beyond your goals. You are a consistent performer with a proven track record in driving positive outcomes through objectives and measures within a large complex organization.
• Open to new perspectives and is willing to try new ways of working in our evolving business
• Strong knowledge of and ability to apply retail math concepts, including elements of markup, margin planning, open to buy, and inventory productivity measures (WOS, T/O, GMROI).
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Strong ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing
• Excellent computer skills including MS Word and Excel, Powerpoint, Google Sheets/Docs/Slides
• Proficiency in systems (RFS, AMS, PCW, NuOrder)
• 1 - 2 years’ experience as an Assistant Buyer, preferably in a major department store

YOUR LIFE AND CAREER AT SAKS GLOBAL:

• Opportunity to work in a dynamic fast paced environment at a company experiencing growth and transformation
• Exposure to rewarding career advancement opportunities across the largest multi-brand luxury retailer from retail to distribution, to digital or corporate
• Comprehensive benefits package for all eligible full-time employees (including medical, vision and dental)
• An amazing employee discount

BENEFITS:

We offer the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, disability insurance, and a variety of additional voluntary benefits (such as critical illness, hospital and accident insurance).

Exemplar Luxury Group is an equal employment opportunity employer and is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with Exemplar Luxury Group and would like to request special assistance or an accommodation, please contact [e-mail].

Compensation for this role varies by geographic location. The listed range reflects multiple markets, including higher-cost areas. Actual starting pay will be determined based on work location, experience, and other job-related factors.