Purchasing Director of Merchandise (DCD)
DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
LOCATION: Home Office – Timonium, Maryland
DATE: 02/2013
POSITION TITLE: Purchasing Director - Merchandise
DEPT: Purchasing
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Purchasing Director of Merchandise is responsible for leading the Management and staff of the Purchasing Department’s Merchandise team; monitoring and guiding relationships with key vendors, and implementing agreed upon company and departmental initiatives within the department and team. The Director is responsible for monitoring hobby/collector market trends in advance of mass market exposure; identifying and pursuing leads for the procurement and solicitation of pop culture products; giving guidance to those that report directly to this position, and finding innovative distribution opportunities designed to expand both the company’s product offerings and its target markets. This position will also actively interact with inventory analysts regarding turn rates, risk analysis, and inventory positions. The Purchasing Director of Merchandise position will be based out of Diamond Comic Distributors Home Office in Timonium, Maryland. Working remotely is not an option for this position.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Monitors pop culture trends; product trends; and industry news.
- Seeks new business opportunities through creative sourcing, reaching out to potential new business partners, negotiating distribution rights, and professional networking. Supervises existing employees focusing in this area
- Works closely with both existing key suppliers and prospective new suppliers on continued current purchasing programs, as well as develop new ones for new lines of products. Audits current contracts and supplier relationships with an eye towards increasing margin.
- Attends key industry functions including trade shows and seminars.
- Travels several times a year to meet with key suppliers at their offices both domestic and international.
- Interacts with the inventory management department to help guide and determine short term, long term and seasonable inventory positions
- Leads the activities of the Purchasing Merchandise team through providing clear direction and business strategies and coordinating with the Merchandise Team Manager to implement these directives.
- Works closely with Sales, Marketing, Diamond Book Distributors and Purchasing Management teams to create cohesive plans to exploit various opportunities to maximize the overall sales in each of the channels Diamond currently sells into, as well as help to develop potential new areas of growth and market penetration.
- Analyzes gross margins on exclusive and non-exclusive items and make adjustments to ensure consistency and profitability across comparable lines of merchandise as well as competitors pricing.
- Works with other Purchasing Managers, Directors, and the VP of Purchasing in formulating, revising, and enforcing goals and policies of the department and company
- All other duties as assigned
EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS REQUIRED:
- Five years of buying and sourcing experience in the toy, gift, collectibles, and/or novelties industry.
- Familiarity with current popular pop culture licenses.
- Minimum of two years of previous Management experience
- Minimum of two years of previous Contract negotiation experience.
- College degree that includes some Management curriculum or equivalent professional experience
- Excellent organizational skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Familiarity with the comics and graphic novel publishing industry is a plus
- Proficient with all MS Office applications
