Buyer

Knoll Inc.; Stamford (CT); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Design Within Reach, part of the MillerKnoll family, seeks an experienced Buyer to drive seasonal assortments and curate a disruptive, profitable product range aligned with the DWR brand. You will manage complex vendor portfolios, lead negotiations, and collaborate across Product Development, Inventory, and Marketing to maximize revenue while preserving design integrity.

You will review samples, draft briefs, and ensure builds meet quality, packaging, and presentation standards.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of buying experience.
• Strong negotiation and vendor management skills.
• Experience with digital buying initiatives and assortment optimization.

Responsibilities

• Manage vendor portfolio and onboarding, and lead existing relationships with an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Conduct regular strategic product reviews to optimize assortment and profitability.
• Draft design briefs and evaluate samples/prototypes for fit and quality.
• Ensure product presentation aligns with brand standards and visual merchandising.
• Travel to trade shows, visit studios, and collaborate with Product Development and Inventory teams.

Skills

Buying experience

Negotiation skills

Digital buying experience

Product/design interest

Education

Bachelors degree or equivalent

Job description

Why join us?

At Design Within Reach, home comes first. We believe in creating and sourcing pieces that move with you and are meant to be enjoyed over a lifetime – from home to home, generation to generation. For us, that means exceptionally crafted, built-to-last, and beautifully designed furnishings. Our purpose is design for the good of humankind. It’s the ideal we strive toward each day in everything we do. Being a part of Design Within Reach means being a part of something larger than your work team, or even your brand. We are redefining modern for the 21st century. And our success allows Design Within Reach to support causes that align with our values, so we can build a more sustainable, equitable, and beautiful future for everyone.

About this opportunity:

As a key member of the Design Within Reach Merchandising team, your role as Buyer is to develop seasonal assortment strategies and curate a disruptive and successful product assortment that represents the tenants of the Design Within Reach brand while increasing sales and achieving profit goals.

What you’ll do:

• Manage complex vendor portfolio, including identifying and onboarding new vendors and leading existing vendor relationships while exploring opportunities for growth and increased profitability. Think big and bold.
• Conduct regular strategic product reviews to maximize and expand the assortment.
• Bring an entrepreneurial mindset, with the customer centered at the core of assortment decisions.
• Identify and implement process improvements.
• Assess sales potential for new product introductions, weighing input from Product Development, Inventory, and Marketing counterparts, and work with Creative Director to establish determination of aesthetic fit.
• Draft and build design briefs to fill assortment and market needs.
• In-depth review of product samples and product development prototypes to confirm proposed introductions.
• Meet all DWR standards for: build quality, ease of assembly, packaging standards, comfort, and value.
• Analyze product performance developing merchandising strategies to achieve revenue and margin goals.
• Work with Inventory planners to establish annual volume projections and initial buy for new product introductions.
• Build and present seasonal strategic business plan, with Product Development and Inventory counterparts, to department heads in quarterly planning meetings.
• Maintain acute awareness of competitive landscape, always looking for opportunities to keep the assortment fresh.
• Provide relevant product knowledge and sales information to the sales team through regularly occurring product training presentations.
• Proof catalog, web, and several other marketing materials to ensure content is appropriate and accurate and the designer and manufacturer story is conveyed effectively and factually.
• Monitor product return levels, presenting actions taken to resolve any issues during quarterly returns meeting.
• Visit DWR studio locations to understand client and AE feedback and ensure product presentation meets visual standards.
• Work with Visual Merchandising team to address inconsistencies with the DWR visual directive.
• Review web merchandising and product sort priority and adjust to support company priorities.
• Manage workload and daily activities of Assistant and Associate Buyer.
• Travel to review prototypes, visit trade shows, and source new products.

Job Requirements:

• 5+ years buying experience
• Passion for modern design
• 4 year college degree or equivalent experience
• Digital buying experience
• Strong negotiation skills
• Show strong initiative and maintain a sense of pride over work results
• Passionate about all things product and modern design

Who We Hire?

Simply put, we hire qualified applicants representing a wide range of backgrounds and abilities. Design Within Reach is comprised of people of all abilities, gender identities and expressions, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, veterans from every branch of military service, and more. Here, you can bring your whole self to work. We’re committed to equal opportunity employment, including veterans and people with disabilities. This organization participates in E-Verify Employment Eligibility Verification. In general, MillerKnoll positions are closed within 45 days and are open for applications for a minimum of 5 days. We encourage our prospective candidates to submit their application(s) expediently so as not to miss out on our opportunities. We frequently post new opportunities and encourage prospective candidates to check back often for new postings. MillerKnoll complies with applicable disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact MillerKnoll Talent Acquisition at [e-mail]. MillerKnoll is a collective of design brands coming together to remake modern for the 21st century. To make your job search even better, we've updated our internal job mapping system. As part of this change, any Job Alerts you've previously set up will no longer work. But don’t worry—it’s quick and easy to create new alerts! Just log in and set up your preferences again to stay updated on the latest job openings. Want to be part of a team that’s making a positive impact? From creating spaces that help people live and work better to lifting our local and global communities, MillerKnoll is working hard to make a difference. Join us as we design a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful future together.