Assistant Buyer & Consignment Coordinator

Compensation: $55,000 - $60,000/year  Commensurate with experience

Overview:

The Assistant Buyer and Consignment Coordinator is responsible for assisting the Buyer in the development, sourcing, merchandising, and execution of strategic product assortments for product lines that are not commonly donated in a resalable condition, thereby improving revenue and profitability incrementally over and above the current revenue and donations stream and supply trends.

This role supports category expansion, vendor coordination, purchase order execution, inventory management, allocation management, and cross-functional communication to ensure timely and profitable product flow.

This position is also responsible for managing the full lifecycle of consigned merchandise in our newly launched Consignment Program, including consignor communications, product authentication, pricing, financial management and shipping logistics.

This position works closely with the Buyer, PDC Manager, eShop Manager, Bookstore Manager, Director of Stores, and the Administrative team to identify, analyze, and maximize trends and opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for providing key support to the Buyer and the Product Buy program with the overall goal of providing incremental profit to the business by sourcing and developing product lines in categories that are not commonly donated in a resalable condition


• Assist in private label product development and category expansion


• Oversee store communications and PDC warehouse communications


• Assist in processing and distribution instructions for incoming product buy


• Work with PDC team on processing, pricing, ticketing and distribution of product to ensure maximum revenue


• Purchase order management and administration


• Inventory management and shipping logistics


• Invoice management and communications with the finance team


• Support seasonal strategy planning, markdown strategy, and promotional initiatives


• Research current market trends, vendor opportunities, and product category opportunities


• Conduct brand outreach for off-price buy opportunities


• Coordinate with the Asset Protection Manager and Store Teams to conduct regular cycle counts


• Responsible for managing the full lifecycle of consigned merchandise under our newly launched consignment program – including:
  
  
  
  • initial customer outreach
  
  
  • relationship building
  
  
  • hosting consignment appointments
  
  
  • product intake
  
  
  • product authentication
  
  
  • product research and pricing
  
  
  • merchandising strategy
  
  
  • invoice management
  
  
  • consignor payout
  
  
  • financial reporting
  
  
  • markdown execution
  
  
  • inbound/outbound logistics
  
  
  • sell through performance
  
  
  
  


• Work with Marketing and Administrative team to develop the Annual Promotional Calendar and attend weekly marketing meeting to ensure all revenue opportunities are maximized via appropriate messaging


• This includes providing input and feedback on the in-store visual merchandising strategy of the product buys


• Demonstrate and communicate awareness of retail landscape, including competitive trends and fashion trends


• Visit Shops on a regular basis to collect feedback from staff and customers


• Demonstrating excellent internal and external customer service, and growing this within the businesses and amongst support teams


• Demonstrating excellent teamwork and growing this within the businesses and amongst support teams


• Perform other duties as directed by your supervisor, V.P., CRO, President and Thrift Shop board members

Educational Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree


• 1-3 years of experience in retail buying, resale, consignment, vintage, or fashion merchandising


• Strong foundation of retail math


• Strong understanding of designer brands and value, luxury resale and consignment, vintage value, and trend cycles


• Experience authenticating luxury items


• Experience sourcing vintage and/or luxury secondhand apparel and accessories


• Polished, professional, and highly skilled at building relationships with consignors, with strong communication and interpersonal skills to represent the consignment program effectively


• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint)


• Working knowledge of the off-price and second-hand market

Benefits:
We have three comprehensive healthcare plans to choose from based on your priorities and budget. Housing Works covers most of the plan; you pay a portion, based on your salary. Staff begins accruing PTO immediately for a total of up to 30 days earned in the first year. We offer employees an educational benefit. This money is available for tuition loan reimbursement, tuition costs, and text books.
Housing Works provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements. Housing Works complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. Housing Works also does not request prior salary information during the hiring process. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

Housing Works requires employees working in our Health Services division to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless approved for a legal accommodation. If you need an accommodation for any reason, including related to this job requirement, please contact Human Resources. 

Job candidates should be aware that scammers may pose as employers and create fake job postings in order to extract personal information from individuals for financial gain.  Housing Works will never ask job candidates for personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account details, over the phone.  If you suspect that a job posting may be fake or wish to confirm that a job posting from Housing Works is genuine, please contact us at [email protected] 

Housing Works was founded in 1990; With a long-term commitment to AIDS advocacy. Housing Works established New York State’s first harm reduction-based, OASAS-licensed outpatient drug treatment program. Other services include Health Home care management, behavioral health, and syringe exchange programs. A pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement, Housing Works operates 10 high-end thrift shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a much-loved Bookstore Cafe in Soho. For more information, visit www.housingworks.org
Housing Works fights for funding and legislation to ensure that all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention, and treatment, among other lifesaving services.