Manager, Diamond Acquisition

The Manager is responsible for sourcing Tiffany & Co.'s melee & serialized polished diamond requirements (all sizes and shapes), stones requested for Product Development (PD) initiatives, Custom Design (CD) inquiries, Tiffany Service Center/Customer Owned merchandise (TSC/COM) repairs and Engagement/ Merchandising special requests through our 3 rd party supply partners as well as the Direct Purchase Program. Additionally, the Manager is responsible for maintaining effective 3 rd party supplier relations through various communications; managing, training, and supporting all staff members to develop their abilities, increase job satisfaction and achieve their full potential; partnering with coworkers to research potential selling avenues and pricing for non-Tiffany quality diamonds.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Procuring melee & serialized diamond requirements; liaise with Planning team for monthly needs; obtain supplier excess lists
• Track all statement purchases, primarily 3-6 carat colorless and fancy yellow diamonds.
• Interface with various departments throughout the Organization; including, but not limited to the entire Merchandising team, the DPC, Accounts Payable, Risk Management, Planning & Operations, and Internal Audit in order to provide relevant information and updates to all inquiries as warranted.
• Create, track, analyze, and provide vendor performance reports to Director partnering with the DPC to gather 3 rd party information
• Review and confirm data integrity for signoffs, new item number set-up, etc.
• Assess late orders to determine appropriate actions: cancel or re-allocate as warranted.
• Partner with Diamond Division Planning Manager to understand the Material Replenishment Plan (MRP) for serialized diamonds; review MRP messages.
• Support all aspects of custom design client requests.
• Locate stones requested for Product Development (PD) initiatives, Tiffany Service Center/Customer Owned merchandise (TSC/COM) repairs and Engagement/ Merchandising special requests.

COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT - To ensure that the highest degree of customer service is provided to Tiffany & Co. entities worldwide. Including, but not limited to:

• Primary contact for the company on all diamond related questions and inquiries, ensuring that the highest degree of customer service is provided to Tiffany & Co. entities worldwide; effective and timely communication occurs between the buying office and other departments in the organization.
• Attend Merchandising meetings as needed.
• Provide stone procurement updates to PD and the JMS for one-of-a kind product.
• Update various departments on current market conditions, price fluctuations and industry trends.
• Regularly partner with Director in the review and update of 3 rd party supplier pricing to ensure current market prices are being paid based on fluctuations in the diamond market .
• Relationship management of 3 rd party suppliers including, but not limited to: ensuring diamond availability; on-time delivery of stones; quality of stones that are provided (melee & serialized) adheres to Tiffany & Co.'s strict parameter guidelines; tracking RTV rates by supplier; ensuring that suppliers adhere to Tiffany & Co.'s highest degree of business ethics.
• Provide support for all questions/concerns presented by the suppliers.
• Responsible for communicating any necessary changes that affect the way in which we do business with the suppliers.
• Establishing new supplier contacts for the company.

GEMOLOGICAL/NON-TIFFANY QUALITY (NTQ) DIAMOND SALES

• Partner with Director and Laurelton Antwerp to proactively research viable options to sell NTQ stones; investigate possibilities for strategic selling partnerships.
• Track market pricing and provide inputs for updating NTQ sales prices.
• Provide gemological, operational, and systematic support to the Laurelton Diamonds entity. Including, but not limited to); Monitoring NTQ diamond receipts; Manage the memo and sales process; Evaluate offers and make recommendations as to whether to accept, negotiate or seek other potential buyers; Identify and facilitate process improvements.
• Preliminary diamond grading of all stones taken in for special orders for customer viewing.
• Source stones and present layouts for new statement renderings, as requested by Product Development coordinating with the DPC, Laurelton Antwerp and 3 rd party suppliers
• Assist in the annual inventory process.

STAFFING

• Supervise and develop staff to perform at peak efficiency.
• Meet with staff to keep abreast of projects and supplier information, as necessary.
• Ensure a safe working environment for all staff .
• Provide subject matter expertise to support managing and training the Purchasing Associate and/or other department co-workers.
• Provide coaching and development to department staff members through the Performance Management Process (PMP)
• Ensure that all members of the Diamond Buying office maintain Tiffany & Company's high degree of business ethics and Business Conduct Statement.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree
• Graduate Gemologist Diploma
• Minimum of 5 years diamond buying experience
• Diamond grading experience
• Ability to work as part of a team or independently
• Advanced computer skills (Microsoft Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Excellent analytical, organizational, communication, follow-up, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated negotiating skills for dealing with outside suppliers
• Supervisory experience or leadership role managing performance, coaching, and training staff
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to work in detail with accuracy
• Responsible, cooperative, flexible, strong sense of urgency, self-directed
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed by the business
• Basic understanding of material requirements planning (MRP)

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Working knowledge of JD Edwards