Coach is a global fashion house founded in New York in 1941. Inspired by the vision of Creative Director Stuart Vevers and the inclusive and courageous spirit of our hometown, we make beautiful things, crafted to last—for you to be yourself in.

Coach is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive.

Primary Purpose: At Coach, we believe better-made things can help create a better-made future—and this starts with how we design, craft and develop our products. Though we’ve always prided ourselves on creating high quality product crafted to last, we know we must go further and build a more circular future for fashion. With this responsibility in mind, we are launching a new initiative focused on circularity with an innovative business model that reimagines product “end of life” and Coach’s impact on the environment.

The Associate Merchant will be a key team member of this team, supporting the development of product and assortment strategies that meet our sustainability goals as well as the needs of our target consumers and partnering cross-functionality to bring this assortment to market. This role will report to the Senior Manager, Global Merchandising Women's Outlet Leather Goods.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in merchandising to...

Product Strategy and Assortment Planning

• Support Director and broader team in developing product strategies, assortment architecture and pricing strategy that realizes business objectives across leather goods, growth/profitability, and customer acquisition goals
• Manage daily Merchandising responsibilities, including building, editing and maintaining assortment sheets; managing product lifecycle process; maintaining calendar to ensure timely execution of key deliverables
• Own all aspects of assortment edit/presentation preparation including samples, reporting, assortment architecture, line sheet creation
• Own style set up process: input style, color, pricing, and attribute information into line planning system (ECVision)
• Compile all relevant product/assortment information for given time period to ensure alignment to larger corporate strategies. Create presentations and boards to support strategy and design processes.
• Communicate all assortment updates post key milestones and ensure systems are updated accordingly
• Support buying process in collaboration with Product Development and Global Merchandise Planning partners

Weekly Sales Analysis and Reporting

• Run existing sales reports on a weekly basis and distribute to team
• Build ad hoc sales analyses that will help the team understand business and consumer trends
• Use reports to analyze business trends/identify future opportunities and share findings with the team on a weekly basis
• Analyze global sales, BU feedback and focus group data to create briefs

Market and Consumer Research

• Research competition (online, stores, runways) in order to understand emerging trends and developments in the broader sustainable fashion market and identify voids within the assortment and opportunities for future growth
• Partner with Consumer Engagement team to develop deep understanding of Gen Z consumer needs and to identify product opportunities/maximize product assortment relevance for target consumers
• Use findings to contribute to creation of line plans and trend reports.

Organization and Team

• Work in agile methodology with a focus on empowered, self-organizing teams, an iterative approach that allows for rapid experimentation with continuous feedback loops in short time-boxed sprints, and mindful adaptiveness to change
• Establish strong cross-functional partnerships with merchandising, design, product development, global merchandise planning, marketing and creative teams as well as key business unit partners to execute seasonal assortments from concept to creation

The accomplished individual will possess...

• BA or BS degree preferred
• 2-3 years of experience with Merchandising or Buying Luxury Goods/Accessories
• Excellent product sensibility and conceptual ability with strong understanding of merchandising product development lifecycle
• Passionate about sustainability; sustainability-related business experience a plus
• Ability to leverage customer insight and analysis to drive customer-centric outcomes
• Team-oriented with ability to multi-task in a rapidly growing, ever-changing environment
• Strong self-starter with action-oriented drive and ability to react quickly with sense of urgency; excels in fast-paced, start-up type environments
• Highly organized, ability to shift priorities, excellent attention to detail
• Sharp analytical skills and comprehensive understanding of "retail math"
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
• High proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Our Competencies for All Employees

• Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
• Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers

• Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Coach is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant’s or employee’s qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Tapestry, Inc. will provide applicants and employees with reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact Tapestry People Services at 1-855-566-9264 or [email protected]                                    

#LI-SG2 #LI-HYBRID Visit Coach at www.coach.com.

Work Setup: Hybrid

BASE PAY RANGE $75,000 TO $85,000 ANNUALLY
*Tapestry will comply with minimum wage requirements and any other applicable pay laws based on city, county, and state regulations.

Here are some of the benefits that we offer: Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, 401 (K), Paid Paternity and Maternity leave, Commuter Benefits, Disability insurance and Tuition assistance. Please click here for a complete list of U.S Corporate Compensation & Benefits.