Buyer / Senior Buyer

At Hibbett, merchandising is at the center of everything we do. We're looking for an experienced Buyer or Senior Buyer to help shape the products our customers see every day across our nationwide store footprint.

This role is ideal for someone with experience buying athletic footwear, athletic apparel, accessories, or closely related retail categories. You'll own your business from strategy through execution, developing assortments, partnering with leading brands, analyzing performance, and making data-driven decisions that directly impact sales, margin, inventory productivity, and the customer experience.

Please Note: This is an onsite position based at Hibbett Headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Relocation assistance is available for qualified candidates.

What You'll Own

As a Buyer or Senior Buyer, you'll be responsible for the complete lifecycle of your assigned categories.

Merchandising Strategy

• Develop and execute merchandising strategies that drive sales, margin, inventory turn, and GMROI.
• Build seasonal assortments that reflect customer demand, market trends, and business objectives.
• Identify opportunities through sales analysis, customer insights, competitive shopping, and trend forecasting.
• Recommend new products, categories, vendors, and growth opportunities.

Vendor Partnerships

• Build strong relationships with national and emerging brands.
• Negotiate product assortments, pricing, promotional opportunities, shipping terms, and profitability.
• Attend vendor meetings, trade shows, and market appointments to identify new products and trends.
• Partner with vendors to maximize category performance and customer relevance.

Financial Ownership

Own financial performance for assigned categories, including:

• Sales
• Gross Margin
• Inventory Turn
• GMROI

Develop sales forecasts and inventory plans.

Execute pricing and markdown strategies that optimize profitability while maintaining healthy inventory.

Monitor purchase orders, receipts, inventory flow, and product availability.

Cross-Functional Partnership

You'll collaborate closely with:

• Assortment Planning
• Allocation
• Marketing
• Store Operations
• Merchandise Leadership
• Field Leadership

Together you'll ensure every store has the right product, in the right quantity, at the right time.

Leadership

Senior Buyers are expected to mentor and develop junior merchants while sharing best practices and helping elevate the overall merchandising organization.

What We're Looking For

Buyer

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of retail buying or merchandising experience.
• Experience managing product assortments and vendor relationships.
• Strong analytical, financial, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to analyze sales, inventory, and consumer trends to make business decisions.

Senior Buyer

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of progressive retail buying or merchandising experience.
• Demonstrated success managing larger or more complex categories.
• Experience developing merchandising strategies that consistently drive business results.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and mentor merchandising professionals.

Preferred Experience

We're specifically interested in candidates with buying or merchandising experience in categories similar to Hibbett's business, including:

• Athletic Footwear
• Athletic Apparel
• Team Sports
• Athletic Accessories
• Lifestyle Footwear
• Licensed Apparel

Experience working with nationally recognized brands is highly preferred.

What Makes You Successful

The ideal candidate is:

• Customer focused
• Trend driven
• Highly analytical
• Financially minded
• Collaborative
• Decisive
• Comfortable making data-driven decisions
• Passionate about retail merchandising