SENIOR BUYER, APAC

lululemon athletica

Founded in 1998 in beautiful Vancouver, BC lululemon athletica creates components to live longer, healthier more fun lives.

senior buyer, APAC

Based in Hong Kong and reporting to the GMM Asia Pacific, the Senior Buyer is responsible for the assortment, execution and depth of the buy of their specific product category across all channels. The Senior Buyer is responsible for supporting the GMM with strategic assortment planning, determining locally relevant assortments and being a competitive market expert for their particular region. This person will lead effective cross functional partnerships with Planning, In Season Country teams, Visual Merchandising, Digital, Brand and Community and Retail Operations to deliver “right product, right stores, right time”.  The Senior Buyer is responsible for the development of other members of the regional buying team and creating strong relationships with our North American counterparts.

a day in the life of a senior buyer

• Contribute to the financial success of the region by meeting and exceeding sales, gross margin and inventory productivity goals through all channels (stores, ecommerce, strategic sales, & showrooms) through the effective partnership with Planning and In Season Country teams.
• Is a “market expert” in their product category and region for all channels and can effectively communicate key data points, including merchandising strategies, athletic and fashion trends, pricing and competition, that inform the global product strategy
• Using the preliminary assortment from Global Merchandising, create a compelling, locally relevant product assortment for the region’s store clusters. 
• Proactively gather, analyze and drive insight from local market knowledge and competitive landscape across all channels.
• Lead the monthly product reviews (“meltdown”) for their product category, delivering on timely, measureable, and actionable feedback.
• Act as the primary point of contact for product feedback from your region’s product category.
• Formulate and define local pricing strategies.
• Lead the in-season management of your product category, through flow, product education, chase, cancellations, markdowns and exit.
• Trains, supports and develops regional Buyers and Assistant Buyers.

the finer print 

• 5-8 years’ experience in retail in a merchant or buying role
• Bachelor’s degree qualified (Business, commerce preferred) 
• Strong people management and leadership experience
• Vertical retail and omni channel experience highly desirable
• Mastery of retail mathematics and Open to Buy
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret multiple data points across numerous channels and market segments
• Strong relationship builder and cross functional partner
• Proven ability to work with and lead a cross functional team
• Excellent sense of style and color trends; athletically minded
• Excellent communication skills - interpersonal, written and verbal
• Entrepreneurship – an ability to make decisions and take calculated risks
• Focus on creating an extraordinary guest experience, organizational and time management skills
• Strong knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel and Outlook)
• Self-awareness, with a desire for constant self-improvement (goal –oriented)
• Willingness to travel and work on the retail floor