Buyer, Senior

Senior Buyer

Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Department: Merchandising

About the Role

We are seeking a strategic, data-driven Senior Buyer to lead our merchandising organization and drive consistent, profitable growth across our full product portfolio. This role is pivotal in bringing structure, discipline, and alignment across merchandising, transforming a complex operating environment into a unified, high-performing merchandising engine.

The Senior Buyer owns the end-to-end product lifecycle-from assortment strategy and vendor management to pricing optimization and digital execution-ensuring we deliver measurable improvements in sales, margin, and inventory productivity.

What You'll Do

As the Senior Buyer, you will set the vision and direction for merchandising and translate enterprise goals into actionable strategies across all channels.

Key Responsibilities

• Own merchandising performance: Lead total P&L accountability across categories, driving sales, margin, and inventory productivity through proactive analysis and optimization.
• Define product strategy: Oversee enterprise assortment planning and lifecycle management, ensuring alignment to customer demand while identifying growth and innovation opportunities.
• Lead vendor strategy: Manage the vendor portfolio, driving strategic sourcing, high-level negotiations, and long-term partnership performance.
• Optimize pricing & promotions: Develop pricing architectures and promotional strategies that balance competitiveness with profitability.
• Drive cross-functional alignment: Partner with Planning, Supply Chain, Marketing, Sales, eCommerce, and IT to ensure seamless execution from strategy to market delivery.
• Build merchandising discipline: Establish scalable processes, best practices, and governance across assortment planning, vendor management, and product data.
• Own product data governance: Ensure accuracy, consistency, and integrity across systems (ERP, PIM, eCommerce) to support operations and customer experience.
• Lead digital merchandising: Guide website hierarchy, navigation, and on-site strategy to enhance product discoverability and conversion.
• Develop talent: Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing team of Buyers, Associate Buyers, and Coordinators.

What Success Looks Like

• Profitable, scalable growth across the merchandising portfolio
• Improved sales performance, margin expansion, and inventory efficiency
• Strong vendor partnerships driving value and innovation
• A disciplined, data-driven merchandising organization aligned across functions
• Consistent execution across assortment, pricing, and digital channels

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Merchandising, Marketing, or related field
• 7-10+ years of progressive experience in buying, merchandising, or category management, including leadership responsibility
• Proven ownership of category or portfolio-level financial performance (sales, margin, inventory productivity)
• Advanced expertise in retail math (gross margin, turnover, sell-through, productivity metrics)
• Strong experience in vendor negotiations, sourcing, and supplier relationship management
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and data analysis tools
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing teams

Preferred

• Experience leading multi-category or enterprise merchandising strategies
• Background in omnichannel environments (eCommerce, retail, wholesale)
• Experience with private label development and global sourcing
• Familiarity with ERP, PIM, and inventory planning systems
• Experience transforming merchandising processes or organizational capabilities
• Exposure to executive-level presentations and strategic planning

Key Skills & Capabilities

• Strong business and financial acumen with P&L ownership mindset
• Strategic thinker with a highly analytical, data-driven approach
• Executive-level negotiation and vendor management skills
• Proven leadership and talent development capabilities
• Expertise in product data governance and system alignment
• Digital merchandising proficiency (site navigation, search, conversion optimization)
• Ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders
• Process-driven mindset with experience building scalable operations
• Excellent executive communication and presentation skills

Why Join Us?

This is a high-impact leadership role where you will shape the future of our merchandising organization. You'll have the opportunity to build structure, drive strategy, and deliver measurable results while leading a talented and growing team. Offering competitive compensation and benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance and more!

Note: This posting reflects one (1) Associate Buyer opening that may be based in either of the listed office locations (Grand Rapids, MI or Cleveland, OH).

This is a hybrid work arrangement with 3 days in office and 2 days remote. Office hours are 8-5:00 PM, Monday-Friday.