Contract - Merchandising and Buying Lead

Freda Salvador; Sausalito, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Frēda Salvador is seeking a Contract Merchandising and Buying Lead based in Sausalito to drive sales and profitability across E‑Commerce, Retail, and Wholesale. You will translate the brand vision into merchandise plans, own buy strategy, and partner with design, marketing, and production to meet milestones.

You bring 4+ years in premium footwear or accessories merchandising/buying, fluency with Excel and Shopify, and strong cross‑functional leadership.

Qualifications

• 4+ years merchandising/buying in premium footwear or accessories.
• Bachelor's degree or higher.
• Omnichannel experience across E‑Commerce, Retail and Wholesale.
• Advanced Excel/Google Sheets with data‑driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate omnichannel inventory across Retail, Wholesale, and Digital teams.
• Build seasonal line plans balancing brand aesthetics with commercial goals.
• Own merchandise attribution, records, and milestone follow-ups.
• Analyze product performance and advise replenishment and promotions.
• Manage buy plan, line plan rollups and margin targets.
• Ensure GTM strategy aligns Design, Marketing, and Production.
• Support monthly reporting and OTB meeting action plans.
• Provide competitive benchmarking and consumer trend insights.
• Oversee retail allocation reflecting strategy and in-season shifts.

Skills

Merchandising

Buying

Advanced Excel

Shopify

OTB planning

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

Contract - Merchandising and Buying Lead

Reports to: Fractional Head of Planning/Merch

Based in Sausalito and handcrafted in Spain, Frēda Salvador is an artisan brand that is both modern and streamlined in its approach to footwear & accessories. The brand is both approachable and effortless, offering a sought-after versatility that makes it the go‑to for everyday occasions.

We are a fast‑paced startup that hustles every day. We are driven. We are small, but mighty, with strong values in teamwork, a positive and supportive work environment, and building our community from the ground up. We are looking for a passionate, analytical, and footwear/accessory obsessed Merchant/Buyer to join our team. This is a key role in the company that will report into the leader of Inventory Planning, with a direct relationship to the CEO, Founders, and the business units and leadership teams.

EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL EMPLOYEES:

Supports Frēda's mission, vision, and values by exhibiting the following behaviors: excellence and competence, collaboration, innovation, respect, personalization, accountability, ownership, and a commitment to our community and a diverse and inclusive work environment.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Omnichannel Merchandiser & Buyer is the central authority for Frēda Salvador's product engine. This role is responsible for driving sales and profitability by translating the company's creative vision into actionable merchandise and inventory plans. By overseeing all channels — E-Commerce, Retail, and Wholesale — you will ensure that our assortment and inventory investment is optimized to meet demand, maximize margins, and support the brand's rapid growth.

1. MERCHANDISING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Omnichannel Bridge: Coordinate daily between Retail managers, Wholesale leads, and the Digital team to ensure inventory is balanced across the ecosystem based on real‑time selling
• Support Line Planning: Partner with Design and Leadership to build seasonal line plans that balance the FRĒDA aesthetic with commercial viability and financial goals
• Product Management: Participate in product milestones and own all merchandise attribution and record keeping. Manage log of follow ups and action items after each milestone
• In-Season Optimization: Constantly analyze product performance to identify "hero" styles and misses. Make real‑time recommendations for replenishment, pivots, or promotional activity
• Pricing & Margin: Manage rollups of IMU through buy plan and line plan process to ensure profit targets are met
• Process Driver: Ensure strong Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy. Ensure Design, Marketing, and Production stay on track to meet all critical inventory and launch milestones
• Support the creation of monthly/quarterly business hindsight reporting and partner in managing OTB monthly meeting and action plans
• Understand and analyze the competitive landscape, share trends that impact our consumer
• Retail Management: Oversee retail allocation and ensure assortment and allocation tools reflect the strategy. Recommend in‑season shifts based on performance and feedback from stores

2. PLANNING EXECUTION & MONTHLY FORECASTING

• Financial Planning: Support receipt reconciliation and management of the OTB. Track sales and receipts against targets
• Forecasting: Use historical data and current market trends to determine buy strategy
• Make recommendations for promo pricing and markdown pricing. Rollup recommended actions and report expected margin outputs. Communicate approved pricing plans to cross functional teams to execute

3. STRATEGIC PURCHASE ORDER (PO) MANAGEMENT

• Buy Architecture: Build a seasonal data driven "Buy Plan" (quantities, style/color mix, delivery drops). Align this plan with leadership to ensure it supports the design vision and the P&L
• PO Management: Act as the gatekeeper for inventory investment. Manage the issuance, prioritization, and delivery schedules of all POs with the production team
• Inventory Allocation: Direct the final split of inventory receipts between channels
• Own size curve analysis and manage execution

4. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE & DATA

• Qualitative Feedback Loops: Coordinate monthly feedback sessions with Retail and Wholesale teams. Synthesize the "Consumer Voice" (the why behind the sales data) into a monthly report for the leadership team for future design cycles
• Competitive Benchmarking: Track the pricing and promotional cadence of direct competitors to ensure FRĒDA remains correctly positioned in the market

QUALIFICATIONS

• 4+ years merch/buying in premium footwear or accessories, omnichannel experience
• Bachelor's degree or higher
• Passion for accessories & footwear
• Advanced Excel, Shopify, size curve and OTB fluency
• Relevant buying, inventory planning and merchandising experience
• Knowledge of Women's accessory / apparel marketplace and consumer
• Understanding of product development, financials, and production
• Strong leadership skills and communication skills with cross-functional partners. Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Fluency with merchandising and planning systems, business acumen, tools, and applications
• Data obsessed — demonstrated experience gathering and manipulating data to answer questions and solve problems. Advanced Excel/Google Sheet skills including the ability to work with extremely large data sets, Pivot Tables, v lookups, and logical formulas
• Strong organizational and time management skills; able to effectively manage multiple priorities
• Comfort with ambiguity, and passion/excitement for building new tools and processes