Y-3 Buying Manager

Role Overview 
The Buying Manager for Y3 supports the seasonal buying process and plays a key role in translating brand direction into a regionally relevant product assortment. The role requires strong product sensibility, commercial awareness, and a sharp eye for emerging trends that can inform product input and influence global creation through the Senior Buying Manager. 

This role partners cross functionally with merchandising, planning, retail, eCommerce, and global counterparts to ensure the Y3 assortment is consumer relevant, brand right, and commercially sound in the marketplace. The ideal candidate brings experience in premium or luxury fashion, strong analytical skills, and the ability to balance creativity with business needs. 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Assortment Strategy & Seasonal Buying 
• Support the end-to-end seasonal buying process for apparel, footwear, and accessories. 
• Translate global direction into regional assortment recommendations aligned with consumer demand. 
• Build and manage range frameworks to ensure SKU efficiency and assortment balance. 
• Identify potential hero items and franchise opportunities to elevate seasonal stories. 
• Prepare buy tools, pricing files, size runs, and range materials for GTM readiness. 

2. Product & Consumer Insight 
• Monitor market trends, luxury/streetwear movements, and competitor assortments. 
• Use consumer insights, sell through reports, and marketplace feedback to support buying decisions. 
• Provide product input and seasonal learnings to influence global product creation through the Senior Buying Manager. 
• Conduct regular market visits and competitor shop throughs to gather insight on assortment gaps and opportunities. 

3. Cross Functional Collaboration 
• Partner with planning to align buys with financial targets and OTB guidelines. 

• Work closely with retail, eCommerce, and wholesale teams to understand channel needs and adjust assortments accordingly.  

• Collaborate with merchandising and marketing teams to ensure seasonal stories align with product priorities.  

• Support GTM milestones, range reviews, and internal presentations.  

• Provide strategic guidance to HK/TW and collaborate with local Y3 retail and marketing teams.  

• Partner with retail operations teams to support product knowledge download, enhance instore selling capabilities, and ensure frontline alignment with seasonal priorities.  

4. Business Performance & In Season Management 
• Track weekly and monthly business performance including sell-through, inventory levels, and margin. 
• Identify in season risks and opportunities and recommend actions such as replenishment, reallocation, and markdown proposals. 
• Manage SKU productivity and assortment optimization across channels. 

5. Marketplace Execution & Brand Elevation 
• Ensure assortments reflect Y3’s premium positioning in retail touchpoints.  

• Support premium execution by aligning product stories with VM and marketing teams.  

• Maintain distribution discipline by ensuring the right products flow to the right doors.  

• Work closely with local and global marketing teams to represent and integrate GCA’s needs into seasonal marketing plans.  

Leadership & Personal Attributes 
• Strong ownership mindset with ability to work independently and proactively. 
• Clear communication skills with the ability to influence cross functional partners. 
• Detail oriented with strong follow through. 
• Collaborative, adaptable, and highly organized. 

• Hands-on approach with entrepreneurial mindset. 

Key Skills & Experience 
• 5-7+ years of buying or merchandising experience in premium, luxury, or designer fashion. 
• Strong product sensibility and understanding of consumer and trend behavior. 
• Solid analytical skills with experience using data to drive decisions. 
• Experience in retail merchandising, retail operations, and CRM is preferred. 
• Strong cross functional collaboration skills. 
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines in a fast-paced environment. 
• Passion for fashion, streetwear, and sport inspired luxury. 

What This Role Offers 
• Opportunity to shape the regional Y3 assortment in partnership with the Senior Buying Manager. 
• Exposure to global creation teams and insight into the luxury fashion ecosystem. 
• A chance to contribute to one of the industry’s most influential sport fashion brands.