Books Buyer - Part Time

With a 40 year heritage, Rough Trade is one of the world’s leading independent music retail brand’s. Reporting to the Head of Buying, the Books Buyer will be responsible for purchasing product inventory across the book category. The role entails supporting the Head Of Buying as needed with all stages of product life cycle management for books. We are looking for a person with creative and literary flair and entrepreneurial spirit, who is able to build relationships with supplier contacts to negotiate and commission virtual and live events, signed copies, other USPs, Rough Trade exclusive editions and limited edition merchandise lines.

Part-Time: Up to 22.5 hours per week

Start Date: ASAP

Salary: $21/hr

Remote working but must be able to visit our office in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and storefront at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

Key responsibilities:

• Manage all product data ensuring metadata is being used to maximise online sales

• Monitor and react to own KPIs around Availability, Sales, Inventory Levels, Margin and Stock Turn

• Curate and maintain frontlist and backlist book ranges, successfully balancing credibility, stock turn and margin

• Curate and maintain merchandise ranges, successfully balancing credibility, stock turn and margin

• Negotiate virtual and live events

• Negotiate Rough Trade exclusive book editions, signed copies and other USPs; seeking to maximise Rough Trade’s allocation on limited edition products

• Maximise stock efficiency through effective product life cycle management

• Replenish sales to a given schedule, and ad-hoc as required

• React to ad-hoc opportunities which present themselves, always prioritising short-term sales opportunities

• Co-manage purchase returns for unsold overstock

• Raise returns and markdowns to given schedule

• Maintain a professional line of communication to internal and external contacts

• Ensure all administrative tasks are completed consistently and accurately

• Communicate with our U.K. buyers to acquire titles from overseas

• Reactively & Proactively update the RT product catalogue using supplier provided information

Ideal Experience & Skills

• 
  Essential - Strong interpersonal skills, comfortable and capable of maintaining Rough Trade’s trusted trade relationships

• Essential - Experience of using Retail Inventory Systems, Google G Suite applications (including Sheets / Excel), and Cloud-based task management, project management and communication platforms

• Essential - Strong verbal and written communication skills

• Essential - Buying Experience, preferably retail

• Preferred - Retail industry experience

• Preferred - Understanding of and experience with e-commerce platforms including Google Analytics

• Preferred - Understanding of and experience of using Content Management, Inventory Management & Data Analysis systems

• Preferred - Demonstrate a great understanding of what Rough Trade is & who our customers are

• Advantageous - Music and book industry knowledge

• Advantageous - Good written copy for promotional and editorial content

• Advantageous - Digital marketing savvy (eCRM, Social media)

The ideal candidate should be:

• Self-motivated, tenacious and able to work independently
• Creatively minded
• Commercially savvy, strong cultural awareness and product knowledge around books
• Able to build and develop strong working relationships, internally and externally
• Mindful of and encouraging of the stocking of diverse author and genre curation
• Thoroughly organized with excellent attention to detail
• Able to interpret and react to written information with strong analytical skills
• Commercially driven
• Able to thrive in a fast-paced environment
• Flexible and adaptable, willing to take on and assist with any role in the business relevant to the position
• Able to drive continuous improvement through creative problem solving and teamwork