Rob Jones Email & Phone Number

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Divisional Product Merchant / Buyer - Lumber, Plywood, OSB & Boards• Serve as a key decision maker to effectively drive and execute long and short team merchandising strategies• Influence and manage the financial targets for the category/line, which includes influencing the assortment decisions, pricing strategy, and pricing optimization• Develop and implement strategies and business plan for assigned categories with full P&L responsibility• Review sales/financial analysis for class; postmortem on sales performance of products/programs; determine potential categories to move upward• Scan business and industry-wide trends for the category, scan competitive landscape, analyze consumer data, and implement changes to improve the business• Identify trends in consumer lifestyle and technology for their category• Drive innovation within new and existing products; strategically select appropriate merchandise• Provide significant input for breaking top-line financial targets into class level targets by buying period• Responsible for making key decisions regarding supplier selection, and manage the supplier strategy• Review supplier portfolio, and conduct regular postmortems to ensure suppliers maintain the bandwidth to support Home Depot’s changing needs• Provide significant input into product assortments based on merchandise strategy at class level around critical item type, breadth and depth comparisons, and space allocation• Create purchase plan to ensure compliance with overall merchandise guidelines ; roll-up class level purchase plan to department level and across relevant areas of business• Responsible for key special projects within business function, and act as the champion, helping to set the overall direction and define the measures of success

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Divisional Product Merchant / Buyer - Laundry Major Appliances, Home Comfort (ACs), Small Appliances, Floor Care (Vacs), Appliance Parts, & ESPs• Serve as a key decision maker to effectively drive and execute long and short team merchandising strategies• Influence and manage the financial targets for the category/line, which includes influencing the assortment decisions, pricing strategy, and pricing optimization• Develop and implement strategies and business plan for assigned categories with full P&L responsibility• Review sales/financial analysis for class; postmortem on sales performance of products/programs; determine potential categories to move upward• Scan business and industry-wide trends for the category, scan competitive landscape, analyze consumer data, and implement changes to improve the business• Identify trends in consumer lifestyle and technology for their category• Drive innovation within new and existing products; strategically select appropriate merchandise• Provide significant input for breaking top-line financial targets into class level targets by buying period• Responsible for making key decisions regarding supplier selection, and manage the supplier strategy• Review supplier portfolio, and conduct regular postmortems to ensure suppliers maintain the bandwidth to support Home Depot’s changing needs• Provide significant input into product assortments based on merchandise strategy at class level around critical item type, breadth and depth comparisons, and space allocation• Create purchase plan to ensure compliance with overall merchandise guidelines ; roll-up class level purchase plan to department level and across relevant areas of business• Responsible for key special projects within business function, and act as the champion, helping to set the overall direction and define the measures of success

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Category Manager / Buyer - Major Appliances: All Commodities • Accountable for all aspects of P&L and category financials including short-term and long-term planning, financials, sales, markdowns, coop collections, market share growth, GP, inventory targets, etc.• Developed and executed category, merchandising and marketing strategies (both traditional retail & online) that aligned with targets and customer needs.• Created assortment plans that optimized SKU performance and increased product line profitability - OEM (Kenmore, Viking and Sears) and National Brands (Samsung, LG, KitchenAid, Bosch, GE, Frigidaire…)• Initiated, negotiated and managed domestic and international vendor agreements - trade/marketing allowances, PAs, terms, and costing models• Collaborated with teams to execute category marketing plans and improve UX - national flyer, Flipp, email, sears.ca, in-store POP, and in-store layouts• Researched industry trends and competitive landscapes - identified opportunities and capitalized• Led a team to deliver category targets and financial objectives

Toronto, Canada Area

Category Manager / Buyer - Major Appliances: Refrigeration • Accountable for all aspects of P&L and category financials including short-term and long-term planning, financials, sales, markdowns, coop collections, market share growth, GP, inventory targets, etc.• Developed and executed category, merchandising and marketing strategies (both traditional retail & online) that aligned with targets and customer needs.• Created assortment plans that optimized SKU performance and increased product line profitability - OEM (Kenmore, Viking and Sears) and National Brands (Samsung, LG, KitchenAid, Bosch, GE, Frigidaire…)• Initiated, negotiated and managed domestic and international vendor agreements - trade/marketing allowances, PAs, terms, and costing models• Collaborated with teams to execute category marketing plans and improve UX - national flyer, Flipp, email, sears.ca, in-store POP, and in-store layouts• Researched industry trends and competitive landscapes - identified opportunities and capitalized• Led a team to deliver category targets and financial objectives

Vancouver, Canada Area

• Owned P&L for online product categories - utilized big data to conduct business and financial analysis• Championed merchandising strategies that yielded exponential growth - assortment planning, product development, price optimization, promotion/markdown planning, and line reviews• Globally sourced products and negotiated complex terms and supply agreements - sourced factories in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, and North America• Managed C-level business executive relationships with key strategic vendors - partnered and developed go-to-market strategies for OEM product• Consulted/advised partners on strategies to maximize long-term profitability, and presented eCommerce solutions for private label branding, pricing, packaging, importing, warehousing, logistics...• Promoted/drove vendor understanding and adoption of proprietary technologies • Monitored and researched industry trends, competitive insights, and consumer behavior - identified opportunities within new and existing product segments and analyzed returnsBuildDirect.com is the world’s largest online marketplace for home improvement products. Through custom and proprietary web analytics and forecasting tools, BuildDirect is reinventing and redefining how consumers can receive the best prices for their home or renovation needs without sacrificing quality. For manufacturers around the globe, BuildDirect identifies in real time how a product is performing, forecasts trends, and pinpoints production needs to improve manufacturing efficiency.BuildDirect's home improvement online marketplace offers the widest selection of products at the best value, direct-to-home shipping, free virtual design tools and best-in-class customer service.

Vancouver, Canada Area

• Owned online category strategies - utilized big data to conduct business and financial analysis including forecasting, monitoring and reporting • Developed, implemented and managed procurement strategies for thousands of products - vendor negotiations, seasonal planning, open to buy plans, warehousing/logistics optimization…• Championed merchandising strategies to create an exceptional buyer experience - assortment planning, product development, price optimization, promotion/markdown planning, and line reviews • Monitored and researched industry trends, competitive insights, and consumer behavior - identified opportunities within new and existing product segments and analyzed returns• Collaborated with C-level stakeholders to drive business initiatives • Created a sustainable pipeline of innovation

British Columbia, Canada

• Monitored, advised, and encouraged Northcoast’s sales team to realize consistent and profitable sales growth • Identified objectives, produced reports, created strategies, and executed plans to improve short- and long-term revenue and profit • Developed new business and built strong relationships with existing customers to increase sales • Provided customers with product knowledge and support• Purchasing Activities – Analyzed, forecasted and sustained inventory levels for a variety of products. Negotiated with vendors and evaluate new product opportunities. • Marketing Activities – Produced annual strategic budgeted marketing plans. Developed and implemented innovative marketing and communication strategies. Created and executed a variety of targeted marketing initiatives, and monitored and tracked their effectiveness. Some of these marketing initiates were as follows: direct mail, email campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, directory ads, promotional items, electronic store visuals, and store merchandising.

Surrey

• Implemented and managed wholesale store strategies to service B2B clients. • Sales – Developed new business and built strong relationships with existing customers to increase sales. Provide customers with product knowledge and support. • Purchasing – Analyzed, created forecasts and sustained inventory levels for a variety of products. Negotiated with vendors and evaluated new product opportunities.• Marketing – Produced annual strategic budgeted marketing plans. Developed and implemented innovative marketing and communication strategies. Created and executed a variety of targeted marketing initiatives, and monitored and tracked their effectiveness. Some of these marketing initiates were as follows: direct mail, email campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, directory ads, promotional items, electronic store visuals, and store merchandising.

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

• Built and managed search optimized websites • Designed innovative marketing material - direct mail, email campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, directory ads, promotional items, digital media...• Developed and executed marketing and branding strategies for businesses across a number of industries

Surrey

• Sales – Developed new business and built strong relationships with existing customers to increase sales.• Purchasing – Analyzed, created forecasts and sustained inventory levels for a variety of products. Negotiated with vendors and evaluate new product opportunities.• Marketing – Produced annual strategic budgeted marketing plans. Developed and implemented innovative marketing and communication strategies. Created and executed a variety of targeted marketing initiatives, and monitored and tracked their effectiveness. Some of these marketing initiates were as follows: direct mail, email campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, directory ads, promotional items, electronic store visuals, and store merchandising.

Maple Ridge

• Monitored production levels while supervising and motivating staff• Defined yield objectives and ensured that those objectives were met • Managed quality controls through all stages of production

Bachelor Of Business Administration (Bba)

Diploma Of Technology Marketing Management With Distinction, Marketing Management