Associate Buyer - Omnichannel Merchandising

This role is based in San Diego and with a Tues/Wed/Thurs in-office hybrid work schedule.

The Associate Buyer is a high-potential omnichannel merchandising professional responsible for owning one department while supporting an Omnichannel Buyer or Senior Buyer on more complex categories. This role is designed as a primary development path to a future Omnichannel Buyer role and blends strong execution of retail fundamentals with growing responsibility in trend discovery, innovation, and category strategy.

The Associate Buyer contributes to product, price, promotion, and placement decisions and supports — and at times leads — product style-outs and category walks with the Chief Product & Customer Officer and senior leaders. The role partners cross-functionally, engages vendors, negotiates costs and programs, and helps drive a steady flow of product newness that meets evolving customer expectations while delivering to financial plans.

Key Responsibilities

Department Ownership & Strategy Support

• Own day-to-day performance and execution for one department across store and digital channels.
• Support category strategy development and execution for additional complex departments.
• Translate trend insights and customer needs into actionable assortment recommendations.
• Contribute to seasonal and annual assortment and category plans aligned to Buyer/Senior Buyer strategy.
• Support product architecture, price ladders, and assortment segmentation.

Product, Trend & Innovation Focus

• Continuously research trends, competitive assortments, and innovation opportunities.
• Conduct regular competitive shopping and market analysis and share actionable insights.
• Recommend new products, vendors, and concepts that drive differentiation and newness.
• Support product selection, line reviews, and assortment edits.
• Support and at times lead product style-outs, assortment reviews, and executive walks.

Financial & Business Performance

• Own and manage department-level KPIs with guidance, including sales, margin, and inventory metrics.
• Partner with Merchandising Planning and Demand Planning on forecasts, OTB support, and reflow actions.
• Track weekly performance and recommend actions on opportunities and risks.
• Ensure promotional and pricing execution aligns with strategy and financial goals.
• Maintain strong command of item-level and department-level performance details.

Vendor Partnership & Negotiation

• Support vendor relationships and communication for owned department and assigned categories.
• Participate in vendor meetings, line reviews, and negotiations.
• Negotiate costs, programs, and funding opportunities with guidance.
• Help build long-term, performance-based vendor partnerships.
• Partner with Owned Brands, Sourcing, Product Development, and QA as applicable.

Omnichannel Execution (Product, Price, Promotion, Placement)

• Support product and assortment execution across stores and digital channels.
• Partner with Digital, Store Operations, and Marketing on launches and product stories.
• Collaborate with Space and Visual Planning on assortment placement and flow.
• Ensure item setup, product data, and execution details are accurate and on time.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Work closely with Merchandising Planning, Demand Planning, Space & Visual Planning, Owned Brands, Product Development, Store Operations, Digital, Marketing, Sourcing, and QA.
• Coordinate timelines, deliverables, and cross-functional inputs to support on-time launches.
• Represent department needs and priorities in cross-functional forums when needed.

Retail Fundamentals & Operational Excellence

• Execute core retail fundamentals with excellence and precision.
• Maintain strong item-level accuracy across cost, retails, specs, attributes, and timelines.
• Ensure systems, samples, and assortments are managed accurately and efficiently.
• Drive follow-through and detail discipline across all merchandising processes.

Qualifications

Experience

• 3–5 years of merchandising, buying, or related retail experience.
• Experience supporting or owning a product category preferred.
• Exposure to omnichannel retail environments strongly preferred.

Skills & Capabilities

• Strong analytical and financial aptitude; knows and manages the numbers.
• High attention to detail and operational discipline.
• Growing product and trend judgment.
• Effective vendor communication and early negotiation capability.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills.
• High learning agility and coachability.
• Strong organization and prioritization skills.

Development & Leadership Profile

• High-potential future Buyer with strong growth mindset.
• Brings energy, ownership, and commitment to the business.
• Excited to competitive shop and stay close to stores and customers.
• Demonstrates curiosity around trends, innovation, and product newness.
• Balances creativity with retail fundamentals and execution excellence.
• Eager to learn, take feedback, and grow into greater category ownership.