Ecommerce Assistant Buyer, Temp

Description Company Introduction The La Jolla Group is a worldwide leader in the action sports apparel business segment with a fast paced, high-energy environment that is continually on the move. With prominent brands such as O’Neill, PSD Underwear, and Hang Ten, La Jolla Group has proved to be a builder of great brands, a creator of innovative products, and a master of operational excellence. General Summary The Assistant E-Commerce Buyer is responsible for supporting the tactical execution of product buying, assortment planning, and inventory management across La Jolla Group's owned e-commerce sites and marketplace channels. This role serves as a key partner to the Director of E-Commerce Buying & Merchandising, owning product readiness through seasonal asset review for style accuracy and managing pick-up shoots to ensure complete, commercially accurate PDP imagery is ready before season launch. The Assistant E-Commerce Buyer supports assortment execution, inventory management, and cross-functional coordination to ensure seasonal strategies are executed accurately and on time. This role operates upstream of site presentation, owning product accuracy and launch readiness, while the E-Commerce Site Merchandiser owns on-site presentation, sequencing, and optimization. As a member of the Plan Center of Excellence (CoE), this role serves as the operational backbone of the buying function, reporting directly to the Director of E-Commerce Buying & Merchandising. Essential Job Functions Buying & Assortment Execution • Assist in seasonal and ongoing buy plans across all e-commerce and marketplace channels in alignment with open-to-buy (OTB) budgets set by the Director. • Translate assortment strategy into purchase orders: accurate style, color, size, and quantity selections reflecting channel-specific demand signals. • Maintain the active assortment on owned sites and marketplace platforms — managing style adds, deletes, and status changes throughout the season. • Monitor inventory levels by SKU and channel; flag stockouts, overstock, and aging inventory with recommended corrective actions. • Support the Director in developing channel-specific assortment segmentation across DTC, Amazon, and third-party marketplace platforms. Product Asset Review & Studio Production • Review final seasonal product photography assets prior to site launch, evaluating for trim accuracy, colorway correctness, and style representation against approved line sheets and purchase orders. • Flag discrepancies — incorrect hardware, wrong colorway, misrepresented silhouette, missing SKUs — and escalate to the studio and product teams with specific, actionable corrections. • Own the pick-up shoot process: identify imagery gaps across the seasonal assortment, prioritize by launch urgency and revenue impact, and coordinate shoot scheduling with the studio team. • Assist in briefing studio on pick-up shoot requirements: specific styles, colorways, on-model vs. flat, and any marketplace-specific imagery standards. • Assist in reviewing and approving pick-up shoot selects for commercial accuracy before assets are routed to the Site Merchandiser for PDP publishing. • Maintain the pre-season imagery readiness tracker: style count, shot status, approved/pending/reshooting, and estimated live date by category. Sample Management & Studio Coordination • Coordinate sample pulls for seasonal shoots and pick-up shoots between the buying team, warehouse, and creative studio. • Maintain the sample log: check-in/check-out status, shoot schedules, return timelines, and loss tracking. • Communicate incoming sample shipment timelines to the studio team to support efficient shoot scheduling and minimize production delays. • Manage post-shoot sample disposition: return-to-warehouse, donation, or disposal per company policy. Data & Reporting • Pull and synthesize weekly buy and sell-through reports; identify SKU-level trends and escalate risks and opportunities to the Director. • Assist in tracking and maintaining OTB position by category, brand, and channel; surface variances versus plan with supporting data. • Support the Director in seasonal hindsight analyses and post-mortem reviews that inform future buy strategy. • Maintain buying and inventory trackers with current, accurate data to support planning meetings and leadership reporting. Cross-Functional Collaboration • Partner with demand planning to align buy quantities with inventory and sales forecasts across channels. • Collaborate with the marketing team to ensure product availability aligns with campaign calendars and promotional events. • Hand off approved, imagery-complete product records to the Site Merchandiser for PDP publishing and on-site sequencing. • Work with operations and fulfillment teams to resolve product setup issues, inventory discrepancies, and marketplace feed errors. Support the Director in preparing materials for leadership and cross-functional business reviews as needed Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities • Understanding of e-commerce buying, assortment planning, inventory management, and sell-through analysis. • Knowledge of apparel product details, including trim, colorway, silhouette, and style accuracy. • Familiarity with DTC e-commerce and marketplace product photography standards. • Strong merchant eye with excellent attention to detail. • Ability to identify product inaccuracies across line sheets, purchase orders, samples, and photography assets. • Proficiency with Shopify, and Excel or Google Sheets preferred. • Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines. • Clear written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional collaboration. • Self-directed, adaptable, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. • Collaborative approach when working with studio, merchandising, planning, marketing, and operations teams. Physical Requirements Seeing: Must be able to see well enough to read reports. Hearing: Must be able to hear well enough to communicate with customers, vendors and employees. Climbing/Stooping/Kneeling: Must be able to stoop or kneel to pick up products. Lifting/Pulling/Pushing: Must be able to lift up to 20 pounds. (Sample boxes etc.) Fingering/Grasping/Feeling: Must be able to type and use technical sources. La Jolla Group provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Equal opportunity applies to all aspects of employment, including hiring, training, promotion, compensation, and termination. La Jolla Group is committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and to fostering an inclusive, respectful environment where all employees can thrive. The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and are not an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel in this position. This job description does not constitute a contract for employment, and the Company reserves the right to modify, interpret, or apply it in any way the Company desires at any time. Employment with La Jolla Group is at-will. #LI-Hybrid #LI-CR1