Company Description

SSENSE, pronounced [es-uhns], is a Montreal-based fashion platform with global reach. Founded in 2003, SSENSE is pacing the vanguard of directional retail with a mix of luxury, streetwear, and avant-garde labels. We produce industry-leading original content and take pride in building our own technology solutions and systems from scratch. Our field of focus has grown beyond that of a typical e-commerce entity as we explore the nexus of content, commerce, and culture.

Currently serving 150 countries, generating an average of 76 million monthly page views, and achieving high double digit annual growth since inception, SSENSE is becoming a cultural protagonist in its own right.

Job Description

Responsibilities

Operation 50%

• Achieve pre-set target budgets, margins and sell-through goals
• Negotiate and lead contract terms and conditions with suppliers in order to onboard desirable new brands and secure preferential trade terms
• Lead the day to day operations, in-season business (RTVs/swaps, etc), and negotiations of the assigned portfolio resulting in effective execution of the business deliverables, meeting growth targets, and optimizing end of season performance
• Perform competitive research and price benchmarking to ensure that the assortment is optimized and competitive
• Present monthly business reviews to the Manager, Home, Tech & Activity Buying, including key performance metrics and pacing, action plans, newly secured brands, and creative initiatives to deliver to targets and inform successful future buys
• Own and deliver small to mid scale creative projects
• Support the onboarding of new members providing training on internal tools and processes
• Act as a dotted line manager to an assigned coordinator or assistant buyer, overseeing their day to day activities and task prioritisation.
• Strengthen cross departmental relationships to ensure optimal presentation and performance of portfolio and managed projects
• Liaise with the Studio and Marketing teams to ensure product is accurately represented from a vendor and SSENSE point of view across all channels
• Recommend key product and brand knowledge to the Personal Shopping and Marketing teams that result in driving overall sales for the Home, Tech & Activity category
• Align with the planning team and work with the Manager, Home, Tech & Activity Buying to execute on the seasonal budget targets and identify opportune areas for growth
• Work cross-departmentally with logistics and accounts to ensure a smooth flow of merchandise into the business; ensuring competitive e-comm uploads and optimizing full price selling.

Vendor Relationships 50%

• Drive the execution of the seasonal purchasing budget and own the selection and strategy for the brand portfolio
• Select products to create a consistent buying message that aligns to the SSENSE brand and department strategy
• Act as collaborative partner to all vendors, providing regular business updates to ensure mutual success
• Actively provide the marketing and creative teams with product content in order to create marketing campaigns that garner strong results based on the campaign key performance indicators
• Act as a brand ambassador building strong long-term relationships with suppliers to attain early delivery times,exclusive launches or product offering, and preferential end of season terms (swaps, RTVs, margin agreements) in order to achieve portfolio sales and profitability goals
• Stay abreast of industry trends and continually source, suggest and onboard emerging brands to deliver to the budget targets and drive the SSENSE point of view

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
• A minimum of 3-5 years experience in a buying role, preferably in a multi-brand environment
• Must be able to leverage an existing network within the industry
• Highly analytical with a strong understanding of retail math
• Excellent skills using Microsoft Excel
• Strong training skills and knowledge sharing capabilities
• Good written and verbal communication skills in both French and English

Skills

• Strong understanding of SSENSE perspective
• Confidence and credibility with solid track record in networking and negotiating
• Entrepreneurial spirit and comfortable with hyper growth in a fast paced environment
• Resourceful and solution-oriented
• Demonstrated ability as a high internal collaborator