Assistant Buyer

Welcome to the Table. At Sur La Table, community, culinary joy, and celebration are at the heart of who we are. From monthly spotlights to the Golden Whisk awards and cooking class perks, our culture blends recognition with hands-on experiences. New team members are welcomed with care and inspired by wellness events, inclusive stories, and a personal touch that makes you feel right at home.

Reports to: Buyer/Sr. Buyer

Location: Seattle, WA - Hybrid

About the Role

Sur La Table's merchandising team needs an operational backbone to keep multiple product categories running smoothly — from SKU creation and pricing execution to product data integrity and cross-departmental coordination. As Assistant Buyer, you will own the day-to-day execution engine that ensures accurate, on-time delivery of the department's strategic vision across stores and digital channels.

Within your first six months, you will have full command of SKU lifecycle management, promotional entry workflows, and vendor asset coordination for your assigned categories — and you will be building the retail math and analytical foundation that prepares you for the Associate Buyer role.

This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.

What You'll Do

Create and set up new SKUs, including completing new item set-up sheets and procuring vendor assets (images, video, copy, and content).

Own ongoing SKU maintenance including pricing changes, status changes, case pack changes, and style number changes.

Populate and maintain accurate product data in the PIM system for buildout of items across digital channels.

Enter promotional sessions in the system, execute price change entries, and maintain a comprehensive price change tracker.

Submit requests through the project management system and manage merchandising approval through to completion.

Own SKU lists for cross-departmental needs, including Excel and Smartsheet entries.

Serve as a day-to-day point of contact with vendors for procuring assets and coordinating requests, building hands-on vendor relationship experience.

Manage sample requests, tracking, and organization for assigned departments, partnering with vendors to ensure samples are available for launches, photography, and store visual needs.

Proof customer-facing detail for accuracy — pricing and copy across email, digital assets, signage, and packaging.

Populate and maintain line list SKU-level entries for visual merchandising to support seasonal floorsets.

Support business reporting and analysis, including pulling recurring sales and inventory data and contributing to recaps.

Maintain compliance-related documents and trackers for assigned departments.

Build store presentation merchandising decks for assigned departments.

Leverage and develop AI-powered tools to drive speed, accuracy, and efficiency in day-to-day work.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Merchandising, Business, or related field; relevant work experience considered in lieu of education.

2+ years of experience in buying, merchandise planning, or merchandising support, preferably in a hard-goods omni-channel retail environment.

1+ years of experience performing business planning and data analysis.

Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines across departments.

Strong analytical ability and retail math skills.

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint).

Comfort adopting and developing AI-powered tools to improve speed and accuracy of recurring work.

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of the housewares industry and relevant product lines.

Experience with Claude, Wrike, Island Pacific, PIM systems, Smartsheet, or MicroStrategy.

Familiarity with visual merchandising and eCommerce.

Why Join

The people who do best here are builders. They take ownership, move fast, and want to see the direct impact of their work.

Clear Career Path: The Assistant Buyer role is the entry point on Sur La Table's merchandising career track, with structured progression toward the Associate Buyer role and beyond.

Hands-On Development: Build foundational skills in vendor relations, sample management, reporting and analysis, and product data ownership through direct, on-the-job experience.

Mentorship and Ownership: Receive mentorship from the Associate Buyer and Buyer/Sr. Buyer while owning real work from day one.

Competitive Benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k) match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts across our portfolio of brands.

Interview Process

1. Recruiter Screen - A 30-minute conversation with our recruiting team to align on the role, your background, and what you are looking for.
2. Hiring Manager Interview - Conversation with the Buyer focused on your merchandising experience, attention to detail, and how you manage competing priorities.
3. Reference Checks - Conducted in parallel with the final stages where possible.
4. Offer - We move quickly for the right candidate.

Interview process is subject to change. Any updates will be communicated promptly and clearly.