Automotive Buyer

AUTOMOTIVE BUYER

Employment Type: Full time

Supervisor: Purchasing Manager

Location: Dubuque Corporate Office

Job Description

Responsible for purchasing automotive, outdoor power equipment, trailers, and power sports categories. Responsibilities include purchasing products, maintaining inventory, partnering with marketing to develop strategies that deliver on key financial metrics such as sales, gross margin, and inventory turnover. Also, a Buyer is expected to assist in hiring and be responsible for managing an Associate Buyer. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• 3 years related experience preferred

Job Duties

• Manage categories to create the biggest impact on gross margin through leveraging of sales, inventory, and financial strategies
• Monitor and correct pricing on products
• Lead a sales-driven culture within the stores
• Manage an Associate Buyer by setting expectations, teaching, providing him/her the right tools and holding him/her accountable
• Utilize Line Reviews to manage products lines with a goal of creating a customer driven assortment by driving cost out, creating strategic planograms, and eliminating product redundancy
• Work cross functionally throughout the organization to facilitate sales driven product layouts, location, and merchandising improvements
• Manage inventory turnover with a focus on eliminating over ordering stocks, redundancy, and to create better flow from the warehouse
• Monitor competitors for similar items and prices
• Manage special orders, transfers and shipping errors
• Develop an action plan to increase sales or improve inventory productivity
• Stay abreast of industry trends by attending trade shows and analyze trend reports with the goal of better understanding product sales
• Actively search for new suppliers, to create a competitive vendor culture and enhance value proposition
• Cultivate and maintain a relationship with vendors in order to review new merchandise and maintain current supply
• Negotiate financial incentives, pricing and product lifts/buy backs with vendors
• Maintain a relationship with the stores to determine product opportunities and tour stores to assess issues with sales, inventory turnover, and planograms
• Develop a marketing strategy for each category of business 
• Analyze the outcome of previously advertised items to assess impact
• Determine promotional prices on products and ensure that inventory levels are within the acceptable levels for the length of the ad
• Clearly communicate with advertising at every step in the ad preparation process and proofread ads for accuracy
• Continually analyze the ad’s effectiveness and inventory movement during the ad run
• Other duties as needed

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Experience with accounting, forecasting, projections and spreadsheet analysis
• Marketing experience
• Familiarity with software including AS400 iSeries, Windows, P.O.S., EDI, queries, IBM Client Access, Excel, Word, Outlook, Power Point, SQL, SEQUEL BI tool, etc.
• Experience supervising, coaching, counseling, evaluating, training, and disciplining subordinates
• Excellent analytical, statistical analysis, decision making, and problem-solving abilities
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks

• Exhibit a high level of business ethics to handle sensitive and confidential information

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to effectively express ideas or instructions to others

• Excellent leadership skills including enthusiasm, courtesy, empathy, and integrity
• Outstanding interpersonal, relationship building, employee coaching and development skills

Benefits

Full Time eligible for:

• Competitive match on 401K
• PTO, holiday, and birthday-off pay
• Associate discount and many other benefits
• Health, dental, vision, flexible spending account

• Short-term and long-term disability
• Life insurance

Physical Demands

Frequent physical demands include sitting, standing, walking, dexterity, and light grasping.   Occasional physical demands include lifting up to 25 lbs., bending, stooping, reaching, kneeling, squatting, climbing stairs and firmly grasping.  The employee is required to accept incoming calls and must be able to hear and speak.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include vision adequate for the incumbent to perform the responsibilities and functions of the job efficiently.  The associate must have the manual dexterity to manually operate and use a computer and other basic office equipment.

Work Environment and Working Conditions

This position will be performed inside a climate-controlled office facility.  The noise level is low to medium and typical of an office environment.  Potential hazards include electrical hazards.  Atmospheric conditions are typical of an office environment and may include exposure to odors and dust. 

Theisen’s is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We do not discriminate against any associate or applicant for employment based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, status as a veteran, or any other federal, state or local protected class.

Click here for a video on why our associates love working for Theisen's!

Benefits:

Full time associates: We offer Health, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance as well as Short term and Long term Disability, and a flexible spending account to our Full Time associates. Theisen’s also offers a competitive match on a 401(k) account through American Trust. Benefits also include paid time off, holiday pay, birthday off paid, associate discounts, and many other benefits. 

Part time associates: Theisen’s offers a competitive match on a 401(k) account through American Trust. Benefits also include paid time off, holiday pay, birthday off paid, associate discounts, and many other benefits. 

Hours of Operation:
   Corporate Office (Core Hours) - 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Mon-Fri.

 Distribution Center - 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM (1st Shift) and 3:30 PM - 2:00 AM (2nd Shift). 

Store Locations - Vary by location, but can range from 8:00 AM-8:00 PM Mon-Sat and 9:00 AM-6:00 PM Sun.