Buyer, Assistant

The Vitamin Shoppe; Secaucus (NJ); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in Secaucus, NJ is seeking an Assistant Buyer/Buyer Support to help the Buyers team with purchase order management, product selection, pricing, and merchandise planning. This role supports strategic sourcing and ensures timely availability of assortments.

You will develop working knowledge of merchandising, provide data reports and stock analyses, collaborate with Product Development, Supply Chain, Marketing, and vendors, and travel occasionally to visit vendors and trade shows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business or related field.
• 2+ years of buying experience.
• Experience in retail or consumer goods preferred.
• Strong analytical and data reporting skills.
• Familiarity with Planograms and product assortment.

Responsibilities

• Support Buyers with purchase order management and purchasing activities.
• Assist in product selection, pricing, and merchandise planning.
• Provide basic business data analysis and reporting.
• Partner with cross-functional teams including Product Development and Supply Chain.
• Coordinate vendor communications and assist in vendor appointments.
• Maintain merchant team calendar and travel to vendor locations as needed.

Skills

Collaboration

Verbal communication

Written communication

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Flexibility

Resilience

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business or Business Economics

Tools

Excel

Outlook

Word

Access

Job description

• Work under the supervision of the Buyer/Associate Buyer and support the selected Buyers team


• Perform administrative functions supporting the buying team, including purchase order management


• Partner with Category Planner to identify and communicate at-risk and/or high-visibility deliveries from third-party vendors


• Develop working knowledge of merchandise selection, negotiating, pricing, and merchandise planning/marketing


• Provide basic business data analysis and reporting, including merchandise reports, stock analysis, and ad-hoc reports


• Support product selection and purchasing to augment planned assortments


• Communicate with Product Development, Supply Chain, Inventory, Marketing, Retail teams, and vendors


• Assist in planning and coordinating product availability for advertising/promotions


• Develop vendor relationships and follow up on business needs


• Share product knowledge based on competitive shopping and market trend tracking


• Support preparation of vendor appointments and assortment planning meetings


• Maintain the assigned merchant team calendar


• Travel occasionally to visit vendors, attend trade shows, and review products at retail locations

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or Business Economics


• 2+ years Buying experience


• Prior experience in retail, supplement industry, consumer goods, and/or health and wellness preferred


• Strong strategic and analytic skills to grow the merchandising business


• Strong collaboration skills to partner with cross-functional teams and vendors


• Flexible, resilient, and adaptable to working in \"grey areas\" that constantly change


• Experienced in negotiating product promotional contracts and sales plan creations/executions


• Familiarity with Planograms and product assortment


• Extremely proficient in Excel, Outlook, Word, and Access


• Excellent verbal communication and effective written skills


• Strong organizational skills and attentional to detail

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in purchasing and vendor relationship management, with strong analytical skills for business data analysis and reporting. Proficient in collaborating with cross-functional teams to support product selection and merchandising strategies.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Bachelor's Degree in Business


• 2+ Years Buying Experience


• Strong Strategic and Analytic Skills


• Proficient in Excel, Outlook, Word, and Access


• Experience in Negotiating Product Promotional Contracts

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Purchase Order Management


• Merchandise Selection


• Business Data Analysis


• Stock Analysis


• Negotiating


• Pricing


• Merchandise Planning


• Planograms


• Product Assortment


• Sales Plan Creation

Soft Skills

• Strong Collaboration Skills


• Excellent Verbal Communication


• Effective Written Communication


• Strong Organizational Skills


• Attention to Detail


• Flexibility


• Resilience