Job Description
POSITION PURPOSE: To help facilitate the management of the Purchasing Department and build stronger Vendor relationships.
COMPETENCIES:
Building Strategic Working Relationships Developing and using collaborative relationships to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals.
Coaching Providing timely guidance and feedback to help others strengthen specific knowledge/skill areas needed to accomplish a task or solve a problem.
Planning and Organizing Establishing courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently.
Decision Making Identifying and understanding issues, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND BASIC DUTIES:
Meet with all vendors and brokers along with buyers regularly to develop yearly promotional and advertising programs, with the goal of maximizing revenue and reducing the amount of funds “left on the table”
Item selection, create a proactive invitation approach as opposed to the wait and see process currently
Develop tracking system that compares all the vendors within a category by their advertising expenditures as a % of their sales
Identify new vendors within categories, compared to the norm within each category.
Meet with corporate marketing on their promotional planning and programs and provide input from West’s point of view
Evaluate all new vendor inquires promptly and assign to buyers as needed
Analyze all sub-categories within the manager’s responsibility at least twice a year to identify products to discontinue as well as identify growing categories that could benefit by more brands. Find opportunities for Private Label products.
Develop buyer’s negotiation skills by involving them in vendor meetings, mentor win-win concepts.
Establish vendor meeting check list of topics to cover, and along with buyer create a follow-up plan on all agreements
Buy a limited selection of lines to understand the buying system and process and help identify improvements
Intervene with buyer/vendor disputes as needed
Attend retailer meeting as requested by sales
Coordinate retail visits with buyers
Facilitate broker and supplier meetings quarterly to review issues and processes with a goal of identify problems and opportunities
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS: Service Level, forward buy income, Inventory turns, speed on getting new items to market.
EDUCATION: BACHELOR’S DEGREE
KNOWLEDGE: PURCHASING OR CATEGORY MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE
EXPERIENCE: FIVE YEARS BUYING EXPERIENCE
SKILLS/ABILITIES: PROVEN LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
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