Assistant Buyer, Outlet

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles.

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.

Job Title: assistant buyer – outlet (soft goods)

Primary Purpose: the assistant buyer – outlet (soft goods) is responsible for supporting the omni off price buying team with the building and execution of a unique product strategy to meet and/or exceed financial goals for the jewelry, apparel, & third-party categories

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in buying to...

• run reports to recap style selling and assist Buyer in analyzing results, making recommendations for driving improved performance and identifying opportunities in the business
• manage third party vendors, including assortment & style set up
• assist the buying team during market with assortment planning
• partner with site and photo teams to launch products online and ensure product/pricing accuracy on site
• partner with the merchandising team to develop and refine seasonal line architecture to maximize needs
• support buyer with visual recaps, boards, and line lists
• execute and track inventory movements/purchase orders, identifying lateness & potential sales risk
• ensure all markdowns and promotions are properly entered in the system and communicated to relevant teams
• support the buyer with hindsight preparation for licensing and merchandising meetings
• shop the marketplace to identify product opportunities, pricing strategies, trends, and offerings
• participate in meetings
  
  

The accomplished individual will possess...

• the ability to multitask, prioritize, and focus in a fast-paced environment
• a strong organizational and analytical skill set
• an innate curiosity, willingness to learn, and sense for creative problem-solving
• a sense of urgency and strong attention to detail
• strong presentation, listening, verbal, and written communication skills
• the ability to build strong working relationships with cross functional teams
  
  

An outstanding professional will have...

• bachelor's degree or 1+ years of experience in merchandising, buying and/or planning roles
• previous omni channel experience is a plus
• high level of proficiency in retail math and excel
  
  

Our Competencies for All Employees

• Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
• Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
  
  

Our Competencies for All People Managers

• Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.
  
  

Kate Spade is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant's or employee's qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under the consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. Visit Kate Spade at www.katespade.com.