Merchandising Assistant, Licensing, Soft Accessories

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. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.
Primary Purpose: The Licensing Assistant will act as a key member of the Licensed Merchandising team, supporting the development and implementation of Global Merchandising strategies for the licensed businesses across the direct and wholesale channels. The position will report to the Manager and will focus on the Soft Accessories licensed category.
The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Merchandising to...

• Own the category success by driving for results.
• Collaborate closely with licensees through the entire conceptual and development process to ensure teams are hitting development milestones.
• Generate all monthly and quarterly sales reports with actionable analysis. Partner with Merchandise Planning for additional analysis and reporting where needed.
• Own style set up process using PLM systems. Partner with licensees to ensure style attributes are accurate (including costing, color, product life cycle, etc).
• Participate in the line planning and development process with a strong understanding of the global market and channel unit specific needs/nuances.
• Assist in Line Presentation prep work (i.e. line lists, assortment presentations, and other buying tools).
• Maintain Product Change Log.
• Support IT, licensees, buying, photography, and all additional teams that touch Dropship to ensure a smooth process.
• Manage samples and coordinate sample/photography set up for business needs.
• Act as liaison to all facets of the business including Product Development, Design, Global Planning, Visual Merchandising and Global Marketing teams to ensure deliverables and product lifecycle calendar deadlines are met.

The accomplished individual will possess...

• Self-motivated with a strong sense of urgency and ability to multi-task
• Ability to problem solve creatively to drive for results
• Strong analytical skills and comprehensive understanding of retail math
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) including presentation skills
• Strong product sensibility and understanding of competitive retail landscape
• Team-oriented mentality, with ability to interact with partners across the organization
• Flexible and adaptive attitude to changing priorities; able to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadlines
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word

An outstanding professional will have...

• 1+ years of buying /merchandising experience in a related business or brand; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered
• Team player with a focus on collaboration
• Entrepreneurial spirit, but team oriented. Displays positive attitude, a professional manner and a willingness to assist co-workers at all levels

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]
Visit Coach at www.coach.com.
#LI-HYBRID #LI-SG1
Work Setup: Hybrid
BASE PAY RANGE $65,000.00 TO $70,000.00 Annually
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 .