Assistant Buyer Development Program

About the Role

Burlington is seeking individuals for the Assistant Buyer Development Program, offering a starting point for a career journey in Buying and Merchandising. The program includes hands-on training, a mentor, shadowing opportunities, and a hybrid work model.

Key Responsibilities

• Select and procure merchandise in conjunction with your Buyer to ensure a customer-oriented product mix that achieves profit goals.
• Provide operational support by independently managing business analysis and delivering insights on category performance.
• Participate in market visits and vendor appointments to select product assortments and negotiate pricing.
• Contribute to business growth by sharing perspectives based on competitive shopping, trend monitoring, and market performance evaluation.
• Build and nurture strong, positive relationships with vendors, effectively influencing to solve problems and follow up with orders.
• Manage email streams across a diverse vendor database and communicate vendor feedback to managers.
• Maintain planned receipt flow by tracking merchandise, identifying flow issues, and negotiating late shipping discounts.
• Strategically manage the full cycle of merchandise, including entering, updating, managing, tracking, and organizing purchase orders to ensure timely delivery.
• Communicate late deliveries to the Buying team and set up new vendors with routing guides and pre-ticketing information.
• Collaborate with various functional areas within the department for input, ideas, and assignment execution.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor's degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, Retail Management, Supply Chain, Economics, or related fields.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel including pivot tables and VLOOKUP.
• Basic understanding of Microsoft Office programs.
• Fundamental understanding of retail math.
• Data-driven problem-solver with the ability to build and maintain productive partnerships.
• Ability to recognize, analyze, and quantify market trends.
• Ability to think critically with high attention to detail.
• Strong listening, oral, and written communication skills.
• Affinity for retail math, product/merchandising, and building a career in Buying.
• Ability to effectively prioritize tasks, manage competing deadlines, and adapt to changing business needs.
• Ability to negotiate with vendors to secure competitive pricing and strong value.
• Demonstrates initiative, curiosity, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning and professional growth.
• Ability to travel within the NY, NJ, and PA region as needed for vendor appointments, trade shows, market visits, and competitive shopping activities. This role requires travel to Burlington offices, vendor appointments, market visits, and store locations throughout the region.

Qualifications

• Strong attention to detail.
• Interest in building a career in retail merchandising and buying.
• Identify emerging trends.
• Develop relationships with vendors.

Compensation and Benefits

• Annual salary of $70,500 plus bonus.
• Eligibility for an annual performance-based merit increase.
• Generous PTO plan.
• Range of affordable health insurance options (medical, dental, vision).
• Company-matched 401(k).
• Paid holidays and Early Release Fridays year-round.
• Associate discount for in-store purchases.
• Professional development opportunities for long-term career growth.