Merchandiser

Most companies claim to have the best people. We say to them, "Keep dreaming." Our people are second to none. They set us apart with their entrepreneurial spirit and ambition. They come to us from the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks and the sports world, bringing energy, bold ideas and a willingness to dive into the unfamiliar. It's our people that make BDA the top global Merchandise Agency to work for.

This Merchandiser will be responsible for independently developing, sourcing, and curating compelling and profitable product assortments for our clients.  Negotiate and develop strategic supplier relationships.  The merchandiser must earn the trust of internal and external customers by building assortment strategies that deliver creative and profitable products that represent the clients’ brands and speak to the end customer. Having strong connections and previous working experience with UK suppliers would be helpful for this role.

BDA’s ideal merchant is ambitious in nature, detail oriented, comfortable working in cross-functional teams, and passionate about the retail and ecommerce industry.  They are organized and adept at time management skills. 

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS 

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of work and experience. 
• Minimum 3-5 years of retail buying, product development, merchandising and/or planning experience. 
• Minimum 2-3 years management experience. 
• Fluency in MS Office suite including Excel, Word, PowerPoint. 
• Smartsheet experience a plus. 
• Oracle experience a plus. 

JOB SKILLS & TRAITS 

• Experience initiating, recommending, and implementing merchandise strategies. 
• Strong understanding of and ability to apply market intelligence. 
• Understanding of retail and the service environment. 
• Experience identifying and interpreting product trends. 
• Experience analyzing and applying consumer data. 
• Track record of building profitable assortment plans. 
• Skilled at cross functional influence. 
• Experience working with accounts or retail stores to deliver profitable and relevant assortments. 
• Works and communicates effectively with cross divisional leadership. 
• Actively demonstrates managerial courage and is an advocate for their teams. 
• Consensus building skills - Ability to persuade co-workers of the benefits of positive changes. 
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication and strong interpersonal skills. 
• Experience in eCommerce merchandising is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with UK and EU suppliers is beneficial for this role.
• Background in both B2B and B2C client interactions is a valuable asset.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Define seasonal product strategies that identify future opportunities and trends. 
• Ability to take current trends and translate into creative product. 
• Gather new/relevant trend info from WGSN sites in preparation for new line development. 
• Negotiate, build and source strategic and profitable product assortments. 
• Independently drive sales through the selection of product, pricing and return on investment. 
• Use current and historical data to evaluate what is working effectively or not and create actionable insights that inform the line architecture. 
• Demonstrate analytical and critical thinking and how to apply to the business. 
• Understand assigned clients’ brands and identify products that represent and target their end customer. 
• Run weekly merchandise status calls with clients and internal WIP meetings. 
• Ensure successful product line presentations to clients. 
• Use data and influencing skills to gain partnership from internal partners and clients on assortment strategies to ensure profitability. 
• Share productivity of assortment with accounts and internal partners. 
• Confidence and ability to articulate and sell a concept to a business team. 
• Oversee day-to-day activities for product launches/refreshes. 
• Responsible for areas including compliance, quality, and operational metrics (metrics including compliance, alliance partners, product margin, etc.) 
• Negotiate buying terms with suppliers (price, quantity, quality, delivery, etc.). 
• Oversee the execution of the assortment launch.  

This position pays £30,000.00 - £35,000.00.