Associate, Visual Operations - Wayfair

Associate, Visual Operations (L1)

Specialty & Wayfair Physical Retail Brands

Who We Are: 

The Wayfair Visual Merchandising team is a multi-talented group of strategic and innovative thinkers across many disciplines, partnering closely with cross functional leaders to catapult Wayfair into the leading destination for all things home by developing engaging advertising campaigns, next-in-class consumer experiences, and scalable brand systems.

About the Job:

Wayfair is seeking a Visual Operations Associate to join our team. The Visual Operations Associate will conduct all purchasing of Visual elements as well as the organization of department financial and vendor documentation projects supporting our Wayfair Physical Retail operations. This role includes many of the traditional aspects of executive administration and office management, as well as the occasional in-store support roles.  The Visual Operations Associate must collaborate and partner closely with our creative, marketing and Physical Retail teams.

The ideal candidate will have atrack record of success in retail management, administrative work,  project management, or store operations, and will demonstrate an ability to confidently conduct and improve existing processes and influence diverse teams to meet deadlines and collaborate toward a common goal. A strong operational orientation is key to success in this role, as is a keen eye for detail and a passion for process improvement. 

Physical Retail is a new and growing team at Wayfair, so the Visual Operations Associate will need to collaborate with the entire Visual Merchandising team, owning the process up front, managing it across the teams, and continuing to optimize and pivot as we grow and scale. It will require flexibility and a scrappy, roll up the sleeves mentality to build out this new capability from the ground up. This role will focus on Wayfair and Specialty Brands (SRB): AllModern, Birch Lane, Joss & Main and Perigold.

What You’ll Do: 

Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

• Actas the Business Partner for our Wayfair’s Business Spend Management software program COUPA for the Visual Merchandising department, managing project Estimates, Purchase Orders and Invoices. 
• Evolve and maintain a budget tracker, monitoring budget-to-actual numbers, preparing financial reports and monitoring transactions with accounts payable. 
• Monitor “Visual Purchasing Requests” Slack channel/workflow sheet, fulfill all approved ordering requests and communication tracking/delivery logistics to each requester.
• Track store replenishment and replacement requests for Visual non-sellables such as signage, props and supplies to fulfill with Visual Creative Service /Production team.
• Place all Purchase Card orders for department supplies, organize all sales orders / receipts, and complete weekly expense reports ensuring the card is paid off on a weekly basis. 
• Onboard new vendors and suppliers into COUPA, while maintaining our vendor database, ensuring all needed company and financial information is recorded and up to date. 
• Maintain payment and vendor relationships for Department subscriptions, ie Software and Scent.
• Audit and maintain all Retail Lab props and signage, and ensure stores and Retail Lab quantities are mirrored at all times.

Who are we looking for

We are looking for individuals who have a proven track record in administrative support, managing purchasing tasks and/or developing tracker/distribution tools in environments such as:

• Physical Retail VM or Operations - Big Box / Specialty; management role preferred
• Project Management 
• Office or Executive Management
• Purchasing, sourcing or procurement 

Who you are

• 1-2 years of physical retail experience preferred
• Able to work efficiently and effectively within a dynamic, fast-paced environment that’s constantly changing as Wayfair’s Physical Retail organization and fleet scales

Proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets and comfortability using Google Workspace and Slack 

• Strong multi-tasking and time management skills
• Highly organized in keeping detailed records and paperwork for seamless project execution and recording
• A positive attitude and a willingness to learn
• Evidence of “scrappy startup execution” and a “get it done” attitude when time is tight and stakes are high
• Ability to problem solve and pivot to the needs of the growing business
• Exceptional written, visual and verbal cross-functional communication skills
• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time for in-store support as needed