Senior Gifts Buyer

We have an opening for a Senior Gifts Buyer. This is a partially remote position; however, there will be regular site visits to Powell’s locations in the Portland, Oregon area, as well as a weekly on-site meeting. Oregon residency is required.

The Senior Gifts Buyer is a key leadership role responsible for driving the development and execution of multi-location buying strategies for non-book products. This position serves as a team leader, mentoring the Gift Buying team and collaborating with the Gifts Purchasing Manager, Store Managers, and logistic teams to ensure gift selections support promotional campaigns, sales goals, and assortment strategies. In addition to managing a select buying portfolio, this role ensures alignment between purchasing, inventory control, and visual presentation, contributing to overall business growth and engagement.

The Senior Gifts Buyer is also responsible for the strategy, development, and vendor management of all Powell’s branded logo.

Powell’s Books is known worldwide as a premier independent bookstore and an icon in the Portland community. We’re committed to fostering a culture and environment of inclusion, empowerment, and respect – a place where everyone can show up fully as themselves and do their best work every day.

• Generous healthcare plan (medical, vision, and dental)
• 401(k) savings plan
• Education benefit
• Childcare subsidy
• Substantial employee discount that is also available to your significant other, children, parents, and siblings
• Book borrowing privileges

Pay: $25 - $38 per hour, depending on experience.

Schedule:

Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm, with some flexibility to start and end time possible, for a 37.5-hour workweek.

Closing Date:
Sunday, March 8th, 2026

The Senior Gifts Buyer is a key leadership role responsible for driving the development and execution of multi-location buying strategies for non-book products. This position serves as a team leader, mentoring the Gift Buying team and collaborating with the Gifts Purchasing Manager, Store Managers and logistics teams to ensure gift selections support promotional campaigns, sales goals, and assortment strategies. In addition to managing a select buying portfolio, this role ensures alignment between purchasing, inventory control, and visual presentation, contributing to overall business growth and engagement.

The Senior Gifts Buyer is also responsible for the strategy, development, and vendor management of all Powell’s branded logo. Reports to the Gifts Purchasing Manager.

• In conjunction with department management, coach, train, and educate the Gift Buying team on range and assortment strategies, seasonal planning and storytelling to optimize sell-through and product presentation.
• Identify and select vendors for both branded and non-branded gift products, negotiate competitive pricing, quality standards, and delivery timelines, and manage vendor relationships and ordering for multi-store and individual store needs in alignment with company goals.
• Coordinate the go-to-market calendar, ensuring timely execution of display changes and product deliveries, and collaborate with stakeholders to align store and warehouse operations.
• Curate a distinctive, trend-aware assortment across categories.
• Balance evergreen core products with trend-forward and seasonal opportunities.
• Plan and manage seasonal gift programs and holiday assortments with long-range forecasting.
• Own sales, margin, inventory turn, and open-to-buy management for gifts, stationary, and logo categories.
• Analyze weekly and seasonal sales performance and adjust buying strategies accordingly.
• Identify growth opportunities through category expansion and cross-merchandising.
• Identify emerging brands and independent makers aligned with each store’s identity.
• Collaborate on custom, exclusive, or private-label product development when appropriate.
• Lead centralized purchasing processes and allocation strategies across locations.
• Partner with store leadership to ensure local relevance while maintaining brand consistency.
• Provide guidance on in-store merchandising and display strategy.
• Lead efforts to maintain profit…