Buyer Soft Goods, Footwear

What you get to do:

Assortment Building: Sources & assesses merchandise for the Backcountry customer, taking into account market trends as well as current & historical selling history
Vendor Relationships & Negotiations: Actively fosters/creates vendor relationships, negotiates discounts, terms, and promotional windows
PO Management: Creates spreadsheets for SKU/PO worksheet creation, builds POs (Qty/Dollar/Style Allocation, Size/Color Breakout) under fast deadlines and ensures submission to vendors
Promotions: Works closely with Marketing to create a selling strategy for inventory, brainstorms promotion concepts, identifying types of promotions and building calendar with marketing, reviews and reacts to performance, reviews boosting/sort order for promotions, ensures our assortment is visually merchandised to maximize sales
Inventory Management: Reviews SKU/Brand/Category performance for future opportunities, establishes receipt flow, sets sell-through targets, works with Planning on an exit strategy for slow movers. Manages inventory through ASAPs (re-orders) and Edits (order reductions)
AI-Powered Productivity: Applies AI tools across day-to-day work—from summarizing performance data and surfacing trends, to automating repetitive tasks and drafting assortment storytelling and content. Comfortable prompting general-purpose AI tools, evaluating and validating output, and integrating AI into workflows in ways that sharpen decision-making rather than shortcut it
Team Management: Ensures utilization and development of Associate and Assistant Buyer(s), works closely with Planning partner and departmental team to ensure all initiatives and goals are met

What you bring:  

3–5 years of Buying experience necessary; e-commerce and/or industry experience preferred
Pro-active and decisive, can make informed decisions quickly in a fast-paced environment
Strong analytical skills; effective negotiator
Excellent organizational skills and extreme attention to detail
Outstanding time management skills; ability to prioritize competing tasks/initiatives
Team player with excellent written and verbal communication skills
Firm understanding of Retail Math and Fundamentals
Proficient in Microsoft Office (proficiency in Excel a must)
Comfortable with AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or similar)—able to prompt effectively, validate outputs critically, and identify where automation can remove friction from routine work; genuine curiosity about how AI is evolving and eagerness to grow with it
Willingness and ability to travel as needed

What’s in it for you? Joining Backcountry isn’t just about having a seat at the table—it’s about helping redesign the table entirely. You’ll be challenged, stretched, and supported as you grow faster than you thought possible. In addition to competitive compensation, we offer: 

• Executive Access: Work directly with brand CEOs and senior leadership, solving real business problems and earning mentorship from top operators. 
• AI-First Skill Building: Get hands-on with the most advanced AI tools in the market. From automation to prompt engineering, you’ll build a modern tech stack that sets you apart in any industry. 
• Accelerated Career Path: High performers are quickly entrusted with greater responsibility, new challenges, and leadership opportunities across our portfolio of brands. 
• Competitive benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k)/RRSP match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts at our portfolio companies

Our interview process:

• 📞 Step 1: If you align with our vision and meet the qualifications, we’ll reach out to schedule a conversation and introduce Backcountry. 
• 🧠 Step 2: You’ll complete a short AI or product-building challenge so we can understand how you approach problems and execution. 
• 💬 Step 3: Participate in deep-dive interviews with Backcountry leadership focused on your experience, product mindset, and operational thinking. 
• 📩 Step 4: Offer. We’ll move fast for the right candidate.