Saks Fifth Avenue Buyer
- Location
- United States United States USA
- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Manager
- Compensation
- $96,000–163,000/year
- Department
- Merchandising, Buying & Planning
- Posted
- Oct 8, 2026
About Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a premier luxury department store and a cornerstone of the Saks Global portfolio. Renowned for a carefully curated assortment of designer fashion and high-touch client service, the brand blends immersive in-store experiences with an elevated digital offering across its North American locations.
Saks Fifth Avenue is hiring a Buyer to lead merchandising strategy, assortment selection, purchasing, in-season performance, and team development across assigned categories. The role requires at least 5 years of buying-office experience and offers an annual salary range of $96,000–$163,000; it is full-time.
Role & Responsibilities
- Develop category and pre-season planning strategies with Planners using past performance, trend knowledge, and brand insights, then execute strategies throughout the season.
- Build customer-centred assortment frameworks and allocation strategies using customer and trend insights from Stores, Digital, CACI, and Fashion; provide guidelines to allocation teams.
- Set product display and flow strategies, including launch dates, full-price selling periods, cross-sell opportunities, and collection considerations, in alignment with Planning and Marketing guardrails.
- Lead market preparation and attend market to select products in alignment with Planning guardrails, including Checkbook and OTB, and category direction from BP and Buying Leads, including omni strategy and banner differentiation.
- Coordinate buys with brand partners, collaborate on exclusive merchandise, manage day-to-day communication about in-season brand performance and trending styles, pursue chase opportunities, and resolve escalated order-management issues.
- Review daily performance reports and work with Planner counterparts to identify trends across products, categories, and brands; use in-season levers to optimize performance, prepare monthly OTB meeting context, and escalate opportunities and risks to Leads.
- Own the business and negotiate with brand partners throughout the season to improve performance through style swaps, capsules, RTVs, matrix expansion, and markdowns.
- Mentor and provide hands-on training to Associate Buyers, Assistant Buyers, and Coordinators, developing their business acumen and practical skills for future Buyer roles.
- Manage and mentor a team of Associate Buyers, Assistant Buyers, and Coordinators, fostering collaboration and alignment with business goals.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent retail experience.
- At least 5 years of experience in a buying office, with a strong understanding of buying operations and retail strategy.
- Business acumen, with strong financial, analytical, and strategic planning skills.
- Expertise in retail math, including markup, margin planning, OTB, WOS, T/O, GMROI, and assortment planning.
- Demonstrated leadership and team management capabilities in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong internal and vendor relationships.
- Strong customer focus, a results-driven mindset, and the ability to manage ambiguity.
- Highly organized, with strong planning, prioritization, and conflict-management skills.
- Strategic thinking and the agility to adapt to changing business needs.
- Willingness to travel, including internationally, as needed.
Skills
Experience
At least 5 years in a buying office.
Education
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent retail experience.
Workplace
This position is based in United States, United States, USA.
Compensation
The base compensation for this position ranges from USD 96,000 to USD 163,000 per annum.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) retirement plan; basic and supplemental life insurance; disability insurance; voluntary critical illness, hospital, and accident insurance; employee discount.
Culture
Saks Fifth Avenue emphasizes a high‑standard, client‑centric retail culture that fuses creative visual storytelling with commercial rigor. The environment rewards initiative and offers cross‑functional career mobility across retail, digital and corporate disciplines within the Saks Global portfolio.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Saks Fifth Avenue, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Merchandise Buyer», «Retail Buyer», «Fashion Buyer», «Category Buyer», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.