CardVault by Tom Brady - Regional Purchasing Manager - Central

Position Summary

The Regional Purchasing Manager — Central is responsible for supporting CardVault by Tom Brady stores throughout the assigned Central region with all aspects of in-store card purchasing, while also actively sourcing and purchasing inventory for the company.

The primary focus of this position is ensuring stores within the assigned region have consistent and reliable purchasing support. This includes maintaining coverage of the company’s Purchasing Slack channels, assisting stores with live purchases, pricing, negotiations, approvals, and questions, and developing stronger purchasing capabilities within each location.

The Regional Purchasing Manager is expected to understand the individual needs of each store within the region, identify inventory opportunities and gaps, and work proactively to bring quality inventory into those markets. In addition to store support, this position will actively source cards and collections through collectors, dealers, industry relationships, card shows, online opportunities, and other available channels.

The goal of the position is simple: support the stores within the region, help CardVault make smart and profitable purchases, develop stronger buyers at the store level, and consistently bring quality inventory into the company.

Assigned Regions

The Regional Purchasing Manager — Central will have primary purchasing responsibility for the following CardVault locations:

• Chicago

• Mall of America

• St. Louis

• Kansas City

• Indianapolis

• Austin

• Dallas

• Pittsburgh

Additional stores or markets may be added to the assigned region based on future store openings, organizational needs, geographic alignment, or other business considerations. While the assigned Central region will remain the position’s primary focus, the Regional Purchasing Manager may also be asked to provide purchasing support to other CardVault locations, events, or markets as business needs require.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Representative but not exhaustive. Other duties may be assigned.

Regional Store Support — Primary Responsibility

• Serve as the primary day-to-day purchasing resource for CardVault stores within the assigned Central region.

• Maintain consistent availability and responsiveness through Slack when stores need assistance with live customer purchases.

• Build strong working relationships with store managers, district managers, keyholders, and approved purchasers throughout the region.

• Understand the inventory needs, customer demand, opportunities, and challenges within each assigned store.

• Review cards, collections, sales comps, condition, demand, and pricing to help stores determine appropriate purchase offers.

• Assist store teams with negotiations and provide guidance while deals are actively taking place.

• Support purchases requiring additional review or approval based on company purchasing thresholds.

• Provide guidance on difficult-to-price inventory, including one-of-one cards, low-numbered cards, older or limited sales comps, large collections, and other unique items.

• Help ensure stores are following CardVault purchasing guidelines, margin expectations, approval levels, and documentation requirements.

• Monitor purchasing activity throughout the region and identify stores that may need additional support, training, or sourcing assistance.

• Escalate significant or unusual purchasing opportunities to the Director of Inventory & Purchasing or company leadership when additional approval is required.

• Help create consistency in how purchasing decisions are made throughout the region and across CardVault.

• Provide additional purchasing support outside the assigned region when requested by the Director of Inventory & Purchasing or company leadership.

Card Sourcing & Direct Purchasing

• Actively source sports cards, trading cards, collections, and other collectible inventory for CardVault.

• Develop purchasing opportunities within the assigned region through collectors, dealers, consignors, card shows, online marketplaces, industry contacts, and personal relationships.

• Build and maintain relationships with sellers that can create recurring purchasing opportunities for CardVault.

• Develop relationships within each regional market to expand CardVault’s local sourcing network.

• Evaluate cards and collections for authenticity, condition, grading potential, current market value, customer demand, and resale opportunity.

• Research recent sales comps and market activity to determine appropriate purchase values.

• Negotiate purchases that protect CardVault’s margin while maintaining strong relationships with sellers.

• Purchase inventory that fills specific needs within assigned stores and supports company-wide inventory goals.

• Proactively identify high-demand cards, players, categories, and products that CardVault should be pursuing within each market.

• Identify opportunities to move or source inventory based on the needs and customer base of individual stores within the region.

• Coordinate with the Director of Inventory & Purchasing and the Inventory & Purchasing team on larger acquisitions, inventory needs, and sourcing priorities.

Regional Purchasing Development & Training

• Help store managers, keyholders, and approved purchasers within the region become stronger and more confident buyers.

• Provide ongoing guidance on sales comps, card evaluation, negotiation, margin expectations, purchasing procedures, and deal structure.

• Work directly with stores that need additional development or purchasing support.

• Identify recurring questions, mistakes, or areas of opportunity and work with the Director of Inventory & Purchasing to improve purchasing processes and training.

• Provide feedback when purchases fall outside company expectations and help stores understand how similar deals should be handled going forward.

• Develop purchasing confidence at the store level while ensuring employees understand when a purchase should be escalated for additional approval.

• Help identify employees within the region who demonstrate strong purchasing ability and can take on greater buying responsibility.

• Assist with purchasing training during new store openings within the region.

• Provide on-site purchasing support during major events, high-volume periods, store openings, card shows, and other business needs.

Regional Inventory Awareness

• Maintain an understanding of inventory needs across all assigned stores.

• Regularly communicate with store and district leadership regarding categories or inventory that are selling well, underrepresented, or needed within individual markets.

• Identify opportunities to source inventory specifically for regional or store-level demand.

• Work with the Director of Inventory & Purchasing and the Inventory team to determine where purchased inventory can be most effectively allocated.

• Communicate significant purchases and incoming inventory to the appropriate store, Inventory, Purchasing, and Operations teams.

• Help identify opportunities to redistribute inventory when another store within the region has stronger demand for a particular card, player, team, category, or product.

Inventory & Documentation

• Ensure all direct purchases are properly documented in accordance with CardVault policies and procedures.

• Maintain accurate seller information, purchase amounts, item details, and required approvals.

• Work with Inventory, Purchasing, Operations, and store teams to ensure purchased inventory is properly received, entered, allocated, and distributed.

• Help identify inventory needs and opportunities across assigned stores based on demand and purchasing activity.

• Ensure stores within the region are following required purchasing documentation and operational procedures.

• Perform other duties as assigned to support CardVault’s Purchasing and Operations teams.

• Strong knowledge of the sports card and trading card industry.

• Strong understanding of card values, recent sales comps, market trends, condition, grading, and customer demand.

• Ability to quickly evaluate purchasing opportunities and make confident decisions while protecting company margin.

• Experience negotiating purchases with collectors, dealers, and customers.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to provide clear direction to store teams through Slack and other communication channels.

• Must be highly responsive and comfortable assisting stores with time-sensitive purchasing decisions.

• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and follow-through.

• Ability to manage purchasing needs across multiple stores and markets simultaneously.

• Ability to work independently while staying closely connected to the Director of Inventory & Purchasing and the broader Purchasing team.

• Ability to build and maintain relationships within the hobby and consistently generate new sourcing opportunities.

• Ability to identify regional inventory trends and understand that purchasing needs may vary by individual store and market.

• Ability to coach and develop store-level purchasers.

• Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned region and to other CardVault locations, card shows, store openings, conventions, and events as needed.

• Experience with Shopify, inventory management systems, grading companies, or other industry platforms is a plus.

Physical Demands / Work Environment / Hours:

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made for individuals with disabilities in accordance with the ADA and applicable state and local laws.

• May be required to lift or move up to 30 lbs. using proper lifting techniques.

• Regular travel throughout the assigned Central region may be required.

• Additional travel may be required for CardVault stores, new store openings, card shows, conventions, major purchasing opportunities, and company events.

• Schedule flexibility is required to support stores throughout the region, including during evenings, weekends, holidays, events, and other high-volume purchasing periods.

• The position may be performed remotely, in-store, or through a combination of both, provided regional store support, Slack coverage, sourcing expectations, travel requirements, and overall responsibilities are consistently met.

Performance expectations will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Future KPI or incentive opportunities may be considered based on demonstrated performance in the position and the evolving needs of the Purchasing department.