Bloomingdale’s- Leadership Development Program Trainee, Central
About Bloomingdale’s
Bloomingdale’s makes fashion personal and fun, aspirational yet approachable. Our mission is to guide and inspire our customers to make style a source of creative energy in their lives. We will always strive to make Bloomingdale’s like no other store in the world. Everyone plays a critical role to bring our mission to life. Regardless of position, we believe all colleagues have a voice and access to share their thoughts with every level of leadership. Our colleagues are passionate, driven, entrepreneurial and collaborative. We welcome and embrace diversity of background, thought and opinion while having a lot of fun along the way.
About the Position
The foundation of your expansive career at Bloomingdale’s begins with our Buying and Planning Leadership Development Program. Bloomingdale’s is committed to a culture of collaboration and continuous learning and offers an exciting career with a variety of opportunities for you to take charge. With so many facets to the business of retail, Bloomingdale’s, America’s upscale, full-line contemporary department store, offers a multitude of areas where you can run multi-million dollar businesses.
Our 8 week program combines highly interactive training classes with hands-on experience to help you develop the technical, business, and leadership skills required for your first buying or planning role. This program will teach you how to curate, assort, and allocate merchandise that makes style a creative source of energy in our customers’ lives. You will collaborate with all levels of our executive team to analyze your business and develop strategies that directly impact sales and profitability.
Following the successful completion of the program you will be placed into your first role as either an Assistant Buyer or an Assistant Planner.
Essential Functions
BUYING LDP:
Our Buyers select and curate merchandise that creates a distinctive, powerful image and demand for Bloomingdale’s that speaks to our Omnichannel customer. Our Buyers are responsible for the sales and profitability of the business through strategy creation and execution.
EXPERIENCES
Partner with vendors to curate a distinguished Bloomingdale's assortment across both channels
Consistently analyze and react to business trends by strategically selecting appropriate merchandise to satisfy customer demand
Monitor the stock levels, analyze sell-through, and make recommendations for future product buys
Seek new and differentiating vendors to satisfy customer demand in your assigned area of business
Collaborate with cross-functional departments, including Planning, Marketing, Creative and Site Merchandising to grow the business through Omnichannel selling strategies
PLANNING LDP:
Our Planners are responsible to drive the business by leveraging analytics to optimize sales, gross margin and turnover for both the stores and online business. Our Planners develop and execute localization strategies to capture business opportunities by demographics, climate and other unique market characteristics.
EXPERIENCES
Analyze sales and stock performance by location using merchandise reporting to understand opportunities and liabilities
Develop pre-market analysis using relevant planning tools
Create and manage the merchandise financial plan
Cultivate relationships and collaborate with Planning, Buying and other cross-functional teams, including replenishment, sizing, fulfillment and finance to drive the business
Develop and execute a strategic vision, with a progressive, customer-centric approach all while delivering on sales and profit objectives
Qualifications and Competencies
Bachelor's Degree from a 4-year college or university
Bachelor’s degree with a solid academic record (GPA 3.2 or higher), all majors welcomed
Strong analytical skills, business acumen and value on professional business ethics
Ability to succeed in a team environment; strong communication, interpersonal and time-management skills
Organized approach to prioritizing projects and ability to multi-task
Competencies:
Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to read, write, and interpret documents such as reports and procedure manuals
Mathematical Skills: Minimum of average mathematical skills, including the ability to compute rates, ratios and percentages
Reasoning Ability: Highly analytical, strategic, and able to identify data trends and present risks and opportunities. Ability to manage workflow independently and effectively with minimal direction
Physical Demands: This position involves regular walking, standing, hearing, and talking. May occasionally involve stooping, kneeling, or crouching. Involves close vision, color vision, depth perception, and focus adjustment
Other Skills: Demonstrated ability to balance multiple projects and be flexible in response to changing priorities
Highly self-motivated with a proactive approach to work responsibilities
Strong team player who leverages others to make better decisions
Strong PC skills, particularly Excel (i.e. v-lookups, pivot tables, sumifs)
Ability to influence and collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners
