Assistant, Merchandiser

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles. Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio—a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

About the role

The Assistant Merchandiser will leverage their proficiency in merchandising to support the creation and execution of seasonal assortments for the Leathergoods category.

Responsibilities

• Assist Manager in creating Global category line architecture, taking into consideration individual Market needs and business trends.
• Participate in development milestone meeting preparation: Sketch Review, Line Pricing, Proto Review, Market Edits, and Internal Market Presentation.
• Collaborate with Merchandising, Design, Production, and all Cross-Functional Partners to execute seasonal assortments from concept to Market.
• Owner of data entry and maintenance in EC Vision retail software; ensure data integrity every step of the way and manage all systems-related communication.
• Manage Market preparation from sample organization, showroom and system set-up, and Market Materials.
• Manage Market communication with Business Units (e.g., style adds, changes, etc.).
• Analyze global sales, feedback, and historical data on a weekly, monthly, and seasonal basis to help better assort for future seasons and communicate trends to Design.
• Analyze competitive landscape, identifying trends and staying on top of newness in Market; utilize findings to identify holes in the current business and opportunities for future growth.
• Act as the departmental liaison for cross-category special projects, including collaborations.
• Manage creative requests, including style name, marketing special projects, packaging, and hang tag requests.
• Maintain Product Knowledge File seasonally to ensure accuracy of information for all partners to access (e.g., Buying, Sales, Creative Marketing, Ecommerce, etc.).
• Maintenance of seasonal metrics files to track key performance indicators: SKU count, adoption ratio, global alignment, margin, etc.

Requirements

• College degree required.
• 1-3 years’ relevant experience.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail and time management skills; sense of urgency.
• Must be able to utilize and master internal software systems.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Independent worker, takes initiative, and demonstrates problem-solving skills.
• Team player with a passion for Brand and Category.
• Demonstrated expertise in fashion and merchandising.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office: Excel and PowerPoint.
• Retail math training.

Qualifications

• A college degree in merchandising or a related field.
• At least one year of experience as an Assistant Merchandiser or Assistant Buyer.
• Retail math training; ability to read and interpret sales data.
• Experience in the Leathergoods category.

Skills

• Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; faces up to people problems quickly and directly.
• Creativity: Comes up with new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; uses customer information for improvements in products and services.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; comfortable handling risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; consistently one of the top performers; bottom-line oriented; pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people; builds appropriate rapport; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; open to change; analyzes successes and failures for improvement; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks.