Assistant Buyer

FD Assistant Buyer

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future visa sponsorship.

General Summary:

As a FD Assistant Buyer at Family Dollar's corporate office, you'll collaborate with Buyers to ensure company sales and profitability objectives are met through support of a primary merchandise category of categories. This position assists with the planning, purchasing, controlling, and merchandising of assigned categories to support the Buyer, maximize the effectiveness of the Buying Unit, and achieve sales, profits, and market share objectives for the Company. Assistant Buyers support Buyers in sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, and pricing products for specific merchandise lines. Your day-to-day job duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

• In conjunction with Buyers, develop competitive customer and market strategies that involve targeted merchandise selection, proper assortment, and accurate pricing plans.
• In conjunction with Buyers, create/select ads, and endcaps for stores. Proofread ads and coupons prior to review with Buyers to ensure accuracy.
• Assist Buyers with all fashion, seasonal and other applicable programs to maximize sales and achieve company goals.
• Create MicroStrategy and other reports as requested by Buyers.
• Analyze categories on a regular basis to identify opportunities, trends, and sales shortfalls. Review findings with Buyers and design specific, targeted action plans to enhance sales.
• Actively participate in the approval process for all decisions pertaining to assortment planning.
• Participate in the pre and post line review process as needed, which may include generating reports, performing data analysis, working with schematics to create planograms, working with replenishment, and following up on vendor responsibilities.
• Obtain samples and provide direction during advertising promotions. Perform quality control to ensure correct information is provided for both ads and signage.
• Assist Buyers with maintaining and tracking all funding (i.e., quarterly damage billings, co-op, special billings, vendor billings, etc.). Reconcile monthly co-op against advertising report and maintain yearly vendor co-op reports.

Vendor Relations, Quality Control & Industry Research:

• Ensure merchandise quality standards are maintained in accordance with established Buyer specifications and FDS standards. In consort with the Quality Control Director and Buyers, actively work to identify and resolve quality issues.
• Maintain collaborative vendor partnerships, negotiate where applicable, and resolve vendor issues in a timely manner.
• Develop strong, collaborative internal relationships with Replenishment, Planning, Allocation, and other departments to ensure departmental goals are understood and executed.
• Design and implement (with guidance from Buyers) an ongoing "action learning" program to gain proficiency in responsibilities such as negotiating, line reviews, demographic analysis, etc.
• Continuously build upon and increase industry and product knowledge by reading monthly industry reports and enhancing systems knowledge.
• Shop local Family Dollar stores, as well as other comparative retail stores, on a regular basis to identify new trends and opportunities, evaluate merchandise mix, evaluate competition, and translate findings into executable product plans.
• Responsible for limited work-related travel (approximately 5-10% of the time).
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Position Requirements:

• Experience: One (1) or more years of retail, buying, purchasing, replenishment or similar job-related experience.
• Technical Skills: Must be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office desktop applications and Windows-based programs, as well as retail math; Merchandising, product, trend, and analytical skills beneficial.

Preferred Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor's Degree from a four-year college or university or associate degree with additional experience / training preferred.

Family Dollar is an equal opportunity employer and committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status. We are committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.