Category Buyer

Job Summary

Wine.com is looking for a Category Buyer - Domestic Wine to join the Merchandising team in developing and managing the Company’s key merchandise categories. In this position, the Category Buyer will play an important role in executing our merchandising strategy as we continue to build out the world’s largest and best selection of wine & spirits. Specifically, they will have responsibility for designated categories, including sourcing, curation, negotiating costs, pricing and maintaining supplier, winery & wholesaler relationships.

Major Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Responsible for product assortment, pricing and merchandising for the assigned categories/regions.
• Ownership of assigned supplier relationships and sub-categories.
• Continue to build strong partnerships with existing vendor base and generate productive new relationships.
• Display confidence and carry credibility as an industry-facing representative of Wine.com.
• Develop and apply successful negotiation strategies to leverage our scale for improved costs & allocations.
• Contribute to weekly and monthly results with emphasized accountability for driving revenue and margin.
• Execute to seasonal and long-term growth strategies, tactics, and KPIs as defined by Director.
• Produce, analyze and present internal and external data and insights to determine industry and customer trends and use this knowledge to make fact-based decisions.
• Collaborate with other Category Buyers/Directors/Replenishment Buying teams to set and execute purchasing strategies to optimize operational efficiency and maximize GMROI.
• Support expansion of strategic direct purchasing opportunities to leverage enhanced margin/invest in price perception.
• Contribute to promotional strategy at a broad, category/sub-cat level as well as leveraging select, high-impact item & price offers.
• Facilitate execution of agreements with Regional/AVA trade groups to capture promotional funding.
• Leverage strong cross-functional partnership by proactively collaborating with the Director on merchandising strategy and collaborating in executing plans with internal business partners including Marketing, Customer Service and Operations teams.
• Execute benchmarking and measurement strategies to improve results; help build a culture of continuous improvement and constant testing.
• Handle and prioritize multiple requests at once.
• Domestic and international travel may be necessary.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Bachelors’ Degree preferred.
• Minimum five years merchandising/category management experience purchasing at a regional or national level.
• Strong command of domestic supplier landscape; has preexisting supplier relationships.
• Solid wine category knowledge and experience with US wine regions, appellations and producers.
• Innovative problem-solving skills – can dissect and determine root causes, develop and implement solutions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication as well as excellent organizational skills.
• Strong analytical skills, ability to multi-task, outstanding interpersonal skills.
• Strong business and merchandising acumen with the ability to think creatively and strategically.
• Experience with Microsoft Office, including Excel, and related reporting tools (Tableau a plus).
• Experience with e-commerce platforms, technologies and back-end processes.
• Applicant is ideally based in the San Francisco Bay Area, though exceptions may be considered.

Wine.com is the leading online wine retailer. Our mission is to promote the wine lifestyle through innovation by providing customers with selection, guidance, convenience, and value not common in stores. Located between California’s wine country and Silicon Valley, we’re passionate about using technology to offer the world of wine at your fingertips. Unique in its industry, Wine.com owns a proprietary network of wine fulfillment centers which delivers in one or two days to most of the country. For more information, visit our website at www.wine.com.

Wine.com is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect and equal opportunity employment to all.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.