JOB DESCRIPTION

The A&F Co. Middle East Buyer will work as part of our EMEA team to grow the business through the development of a localized product strategy for the A&F brand for the Middle East region. This role will drive assortment architecture and product selection, partnering with the EMEA Buying and Planning teams in London as well as the Global Home Office to ensure our global brand is regionally relevant. Though the role will be primarily focused on our UAE and Kuwait omnichannel business, the Middle East Buyer is expected to partner closely with our regional Franchise partners in KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman to build product synergies across the Middle East region. Success in this role will be highly dependent upon building and maintaining exceptional relationships with internal and external teams across regions and thus requires regular travel to Columbus, Ohio, USA and London, UK for key business milestones.
This role is based in Dubai, UAE and reports to the Managing Director of Middle East.

• Leverage regional market knowledge to provide sales forecast guidance and drive forecast accuracy
• Review store forecasts and recommend actions to maximize key traffic peaks and holidays while mitigating forecast volatility
• Optimize inventory across Middle East stores to achieve brand, gender, and department stock goals
• Collaborate with EMEA HO teams to maximize inventory efficiency between regions and channels
• Develop and execute region-specific inventory liquidation plans
• Translate business hindsight’s into future season forecast and inventory strategies
• Interface with regional stores, supply chain, logistics, and trade partners
• Visit store locations and provide feedback to EMEA and GHO on in-store experience opportunities
• Execute regionally specific item and size strategies from pre-season to in-season
• Provide guidance on new store set up inclusive of third-party execution