Follain leads the movement toward healthier personal care by curating only the best (healthy, proven, pure, pleasing) products on follain.com and in a growing number of stores across the country. Together we’re making widespread change in the wildly unregulated and unhealthy beauty industry. We’re currently building a whole new Follain experience – online and in-stores. Want to be part of our mission to change the world?

Follain is seeking a relentlessly curious, natural beauty-obsessed, analytical associate as a key member of the merchandising team. We are looking for a self-starter and a creative problem solver with passion and experience in the consumer space. You will support the merchandising and planning teams and work closely with internal leaders and our vendors to drive product onboarding, new product reporting and product success across the company.

As our Assistant Buyer, you will be ensuring smooth new product and vendor onboarding. You’ll work closely with the extended team (store educators, client experience, marketing and management) to share updates and oversee the product process and confirm the data. You are adept at creating reports pulling data from multiple systems and must be a whiz at excel. You’ll collaborate with our team on the new product pipeline and work with planning to support inventory buys. You’ll be a master communicator and will develop strong relationships with our vendors and be excited to collaborate with the team.

Responsibilities

• Own new product onboarding, including product, SKU and vendor set up
• Ensure product data is continuously up to date
• Partner with the extended team to onboard new suppliers and maintain compliance documentation
• Place all purchase orders with our vendors and ensure timely delivery of receipts
• Communicate relevant product information clearly to Creative, CX, Retail, Merch and Marketing partners
• Track production dates for product launches and any late deliveries that may impact business
• Coordinate product launch initiatives across departments (trainings, social, photoshoots, events)
• Maintain full ownership of product catalog system including integrity of copy, cost, retail, product tags, categorization and image
• Compile and analyze weekly sales and inventory reports and work with Merch/Planning to identify sales opportunities
• Analyze product and brand sales, trends and productivity results to plan for the following month
• Create routine and ad hoc reports as requested by merch/planning utilizing data from multiple sources
• Maintain up-to-date reporting libraries that allow access to historical reporting on products, brands and suppliers
• Provide store educators and extended team with product status updates, planograms and instructions for managing product changes and new product launches
• Process new item samples including unpacking, storage, and disposal
• Maintain up-to-date internal documentation of past, current, and future items in testing/approval process
• Manage real time updates to merchandising plans and provide timely team communication
• Schedule meetings including the creation of meeting materials, recaps, etc.
• Provide first level store query support and escalate as needed

Requirements

• 1-3 years of merchandising/buying/analytic experience for a vertical retailer or wholesaler
• Strong knowledge of product merchandising and assortment planning
• Advanced Excel skills (v-lookups, pivot tables, complex formulas)
• Strong analytical & retail math skills
• Organized “doer” with an exceptional ability to multitask, take initiative, own, and execute projects
• Solution-oriented critical thinker with the ability to balance multiple projects and navigate occasionally competing priorities
• Exceptional organizational skills with a robust understanding of process
• Ability to problem solve, balancing thoughtfulness and a sense of urgency
• Stellar attention to detail, understanding the importance of accuracy and thorough completion of tasks
• Ability to develop and maintain effective relationships and partnerships
• Flexible/adaptable to work in a highly collaborative start-up environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to present ideas, conclusions and recommendations with clarity
• Experience with consumer facing digital/ecommerce business preferred
• Experience with an early to mid-stage start-up preferable
• Bachelor's degree