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Vice President, Buying & Merchandising
Holt Renfrew
Ontario Toronto, , Canada
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At Holt Renfrew our mission is to present exceptional experiences together with the finest luxury products for life’s every day and extraordinary moments. Every Holt Renfrew employee enables this mission and defines the luxury lifestyle shopping experience through building lasting relationships with our people, customers and partners. The Vice President, Buying & Merchandising will be responsible to increase sales and profits.
The Vice President, Buying & Merchandising is responsible for developing and implementing product and merchandising strategies that achieve company sales, profit, and growth targets in their assigned division. S/he will lead a team of buying professionals who with ensure the product mix complements and delivers to the Holt Renfrew Vision and Brand.
Specific responsibilities include (but are not limited to) the following:
Strategic Business Leadership
• Provide the strategic direction and execution of Holt Renfrew Buying & Merchandising plans for assigned division
• Provide guidance on key trends and continually evaluate competitors and market dynamics to assess the impact on business and develop strategy recommendations. Ensure solutions are based on strong analytics and insights and the path to move from strategy to execution is clearly laid out
• Partner with Holt Renfrew’s Fashion Director to establish and ensure execution of seasonal fashion direction for the division in line with Company vision
• Establish trustful relationships with internal and external stakeholders by establishing collaborative, two-way dialogue that will ensure strategic alignment and partnership
• develop brand and supplier relationships for the division
• Maintain regular communication with store management, reacting to in-season trend and develop mid/long term strategies for growth in line with corporate strategy
• Participate in all applicable corporate initiatives and marketing strategies
• Effectively influence cross-functional teams to ensure synergies of vision, defining the operational skills, processes and environment required to meet business needs and achieve overall strategic goals
• Participate in the development of annual expense budget for the division; monitor and adjust as required to achieve all expense management targets
Merchandising Excellence
• Responsible for product offerings in assigned division
• Develop and meet financial and strategic goals for the division, including sales, margins, inventory, markdown and turn targets
• Develop forward-thinking pricing strategies that optimize sales and margin
• Monitor development and implementation of activities to meet goals, e.g. assortment planning, commodity analysis, style outs, development of marketing plans and appropriate financial planning to ensure authoritative statements and agreed turns/margins by division
• Lead buying team in development of brand specific marketing plans in conjunction with the marketing team and vendor base
• Negotiate vendor co-op, specialist programs and personalized special events
• Partner with the Marketing team to develop custom marketing programs/branding for the Business
• Anticipate market events and develop what-if scenarios to address changing business dynamics
• Work in tandem with other corporate departments to ensure alignment of goals and achievement of company vision
People Leadership and Development
• Lead, motivate, and retain a team of high performing employees that is capable of delivering results
• Communicate appropriate goals, achievement standards and parameters in terms of functions for direct reports, helping them to understand how they drive business
• Demonstrate leadership and commitment to employee development and succession planning by ensuring employee performance and development discussions, team building and skill development occur regularly, and that plans are updated quarterly
• Complies with all Health & Safety policies and requirements
The ideal candidate:
• Post-secondary degree in a related field or equivalent work experience; MBA considered an asset
• 8+ years’ experience in designer/luxury buying across all fashion commodities, with particular emphasis on [select one: designer and contemporary womenswear or menswear]
• 5+ years leading a business unit or enterprise-wide strategy
• Demonstrated leadership and influencing skills with the ability to get things done
• A team player who is able to act as both a leader and an individual contributor as required
• Confident and effective communication (written & verbal) and interpersonal skills
• Is adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Product development and sourcing experience in high-end quality product
• Proven track record in optimizing driving market trends and leveraging new opportunities
• Passionate about fashion and luxury retailing
• Retail experience at both a field and corporate/headquarters level an asset
• Ability to travel
The measures of success:
• Contribution to financial objectives
• Individual objectives linked to the achievement of department goals
• Feedback from internal and external clients
• Leadership behaviours, all employees at Holt Renfrew are expected to:
◦ Inspire with Service
◦ Lead with Passion
◦ Own it with Pride
◦ Earn lasting Relationships