The Buyer will determine the overall strategic direction of the product/merchandise mix for the Retail/Exhibition Division within specified departments in order to achieve a profit for the Museum. Specific responsibilities include establishing merchandise assortments for stores and exhibitions, achieving budgeted sales and gross margin goals and ensuring appropriate and profitable inventory levels are maintained. The Buyer will maintain good business relations with the MFA vendor base as well as internal staff and customers; Review store assortments based on LY needs and current trends to ensure a proper balance of fashion (contemporary) and MFA basics; Procure product to fill the needs of the assortment; Monitor item selling on a weekly basis to identify reorders and emerging trends; Evaluate the NRQ models within each department on a quarterly basis to ensure that appropriate styles and inventory levels are in place to allow stores to maximize sales; Achieve positive results against financial plans for each season; Monitor sales, GM and turn goals throughout the year to insure the business is on plan and opportunities or issues are addressed in a timely manner; Work within Open-to-Buy to finalize buy quantities by style and maintain a flow of goods. Participate in monthly meetings to review open to buy reports to ensure receipts allow us to meet plan by department; Build concentration of collection inspired product, based on current trends happening within the store business, to increase differentiation from competitors; Develop a good understanding of market trends and inject complimentary market product where needed to meet sales and receipt plan and also to meet individual store assortment needs; Participate in seasonal sales re-cap by department of assortment "hits and misses"; Review sales on a daily and weekly level versus LY and PL to better understand customer needs and initiate markdowns on a timely basis; Determine product focus by department by month to ensure "newness" on the retail floors; Work closely with the other buyers to coordinate cohesive merchandise groups for merchandising in the stores; Adhere to Exhibition assortment conception and confirmation schedule to deliver product timely for the Exhibition shop set-up; Create an advertising and marketing strategy for highlighting product within your departments; Recommend product categories/items to highlight in all advertising venues: stores, web Preview and external; Conduct season market review to determine trends, complete competitive shopping in the market for content and pricing reviews; Complete seasonal store assortment presentations to store management team; Supply hard copy assortment plans for stores reference; Attend meetings with Director of Retail to report by store on sales results, GM, receipt flow, NRQ, Exhibition schedule, trends, markdowns, visual, housekeeping and other related issues.
A bachelor’s degree and 3-5 years related experience/training or equivalent combination of training and experience; Prior buying experience a must; Excellent communication skills verbal and written; detailed oriented, visually intuitive and able to work independently; strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously; Strong mathematical skills a must with the ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions and percentages; Specific retail calculations such as gross margin, inventory turns, weeks of supply and sell through are necessary; Excellent computer skills. Send cover letter and resume to resumes@mfa.org. www.mfa.org
Status: Full-Time
Posted: 9/9/13