Job Description

Roots is more than just an/the iconic Canadian retailer, we are a group of passionate employees who act with integrity, trust each other and do what is right. We work in a space where people can grow and develop, with a team of people who own results and are dedicated to seeing Roots win. We seek to build longstanding relationships with partners who share our commitment to maintaining high ethical standards of operation.

We are currently seeking a Senior Director Buying and Merchandising who can be nice, will seek inspiration from our roots, can commit to achieving results the right way and loves to think big to join us on our journey.

The Senior Director Buying and Merchandising is a member of our Merchandising team reporting directly to the CPO. This role will be responsible for leading aspects of the Roots brand by supporting the development a long-term product assortment plan and global category strategy, buy strategy, go to market plan and execution. You will focus on building powerful supplier relationships, store partnerships and cross functional alignment between yourself, Finance and Planning, Retail ops and Marketing/Ecommerce. You will apply your analytical skills, while executing and delivering real outcomes that drive our business. An avid negotiator, and a creative leader, this professional acts as a key voice in fostering relations with key stakeholders, while learning about different department needs to encourage the move towards a united product brand.

***12 Month Contract***

The Senior Director Buying and Merchandising for Roots will be responsible for and evaluated on the following:

• Oversees the creation and execution of detailed Department plans to design - including Commercial and Brand right trends, monthly style development required by class to support the needs of Retail, Web, and International business.
• Works closely with CPO to align on key monthly and quarterly go-to-market themes
• Leads the cross-functional teams in the execution of the strategic merchandise category processes and the implementation of our strategies.
• Anticipates trends and mitigates the impact on Roots products
• Maintain fair, courteous, and productive relationships with all vendors, while reinforcing Roots brand image and values.
• Search for innovative products, services, approaches, and strategic models to support Roots united brand strategy.
• Bring applicable ideas to the business for testing, cost modeling, and performance measurement.
• Participates in strategic special projects as assigned.
• Analyzes and studies strategic market dynamics and their implications on cost, quality, and risk to the business.
• Reviews sales and incorporates feedback or new ideas as provided by all business channels
• Supports the delivery of initial samples and SMS samples to meet Merchandise Calendar Line Review dates.
• Partnering with Planning and Finance to create accurate monthly and store budgets and monthly department OTB management
• Meeting set financial retail sales targets and gross margin dollars
• Analyzing and presenting in-season sales trends on a weekly basis to Senior Management, including monthly and quarterly post mortems
• Conducting external and internal research to better cluster stores and finalize high/mid/low volume assortments
• Partner with real estate and store design on space by department and communicate any strategic shifts that require fixturing or instore space changes
• Providing direction and manage day to day work of Buying and Merchandising team
• Providing leadership and training, and in the moment feedback to the buying and merchandising team to support continued employee growth.
• Attending final product reviews and build store assortments from the global collection and achieve precision retailing goals at various store cluster levels
• Understanding trends, colours, materials and silhouettes to make informed product buying decisions for consumer adoption
• Presenting retail units and buying strategy at Unit Review to Senior Management
• Managing and provide on-going direction to the Allocation Team to maximize in-season sales with inventory
• Creating monthly markdown proposals to manage inventory against budget
• Conduct regular competitive market research with retail sector
• Support store teams regarding merchandise stock levels and maintain continuous communication and cooperation on product, clustering and promotional plans.
• Work closely with visual creative teams to plan in-store presentation of monthly store assortments for optimum brand presentation and drives incremental sales.

Top candidates for the Senior Director Buying and Merchandising role will have the following:

• Knowledge of current and changing retail trends and ability to revise and communicate strategies to optimize growth opportunities.
• A collaborative leader that works well across an organization and builds performance teams through ongoing coaching and development.
• A change agent who is flexible, resilient, and able to thrive in a dynamic, rapid paced environment, who will embody a culture of taking smart risks and innovating to win.
• Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• Proven ability to foster and maintain strong business partner relationships with internal and external teams.
• Team player with the ability to gain consensus through collaboration and open dialogue.
• An understanding of/affinity for the Roots customer. A passion for the brand/company values.
• Extremely detailed and goal oriented, paired with the ability to deliver results against set targets.
• Degree in Business, Management or a related field.
• 10+ years of category management, Buying, assortment planning and merchandising experience within the apparel industry, with at least 5 years at management level
• Experience with setting retail-pricing matrix to maximize profits and sales targets.
• Strong analytical, organizational and problem solving skills.
• Self-lead and an independent thinker with the ability to drive results in a fast pace environment.
• Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• Proven ability to foster and maintain strong business partner relationships with internal and external teams.
• Demonstrated leadership, development and coaching skills to lead an effective team.
• Extremely detailed and goal oriented, paired with the ability to deliver results against set targets.
• Demonstrated ability to articulate ideas and communicate with cross-functional teams to achieve goals.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Experience in managing category strategies all the way through to execution and post mortem.

Other details

• Pay Type Salary

• 1400 Castlefield Ave, York, ON M6B 4C4, Canada

Roots Canada