2025-2026 Leadership Development Program - Full Time and Internship

Company Description

Job Description 

The A&F Leadership Development Programs are highly competitive initiatives, unique for their entrepreneurial structure, and provide immediate exposure to senior level leaders. With a “promote from within” mentality, these programs have been designed to shape top candidates into the future leaders of our company. We want students who are motivated, creative, and strategic – natural leaders seeking to drive results in a team-based environment.
The comprehensive programs will include:

• Combination of classroom sessions and on-the-job training
• Relationship with a mentor to guide learning in the new role
• Interactive presentations from a variety of senior leaders in the company
• An open and inclusive learning environment with fellow associates
• Integrated social activities to help transition to Columbus and the unique corporate culture at A&F
• Preparation to effectively manage a portion of the business in one of our critical areas at Home Office

This job is located at our Global Home Office in Columbus, Ohio.  

What Will You Be Doing? 

• MERCHANDISING (Full-Time and Internship): Managing the strategy for millions of dollars of product each day. Entrepreneurial in nature, Merchants lead a cross-functional team to maximize the financial success of their product line and must possess the unique ability to be both analytical and creative daily. Merchants are the experts on our customer, understanding their lifestyle, behaviors, and preferences to predict and capitalize on market trends. From working with our designers to identify the next styles and trends for our stores to analyzing sales and identifying growth strategies for the business, our Merchants are involved with every aspect of the product.
• MERCHANDISE PLANNING (Full-Time and Internship): Shaping the financial strategy behind every product. Interpreting and balancing current sales, inventory analysis, financial goals, and emerging trends. Our Merchandise Planners build the plans that maximize our success. They forecast future product performance, establish strategies across domestic, international, and e-commerce channels, and strategically distribute our products around the world.
• FINANCE & ACCOUNTING (Internship ONLY): Financial Analysts gain a unique and multi-faceted skill set through our Leadership Development Program, gaining exposure to multiple disciplines within our corporate finance and accounting teams. Highly analytical and results-oriented, our Financial Analysts make an immediate impact on corporate strategy and direction. Opportunities within Finance include Financial Planning and Analysis, Accounting, Internal Audit, Treasury, Capital Projects, and Financial Reporting.
• DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY (Internship ONLY): Generating and implementing new strategic or systematic approaches and creating dynamic technology solutions for our rapidly growing business. Committed to applying technology to solve business problems, our Analysts and Engineers partner with teams across the company, hone software development skills using cutting-edge tools, and create and uphold technology standards and processes.
• VISUAL MERCHANDISING (Full-Time ONLY): Driving the creative process behind our in-store experience, crafting what customers see and feel, to create unique environments that maximize sales and profitability. Coordinating customer-centric product placement strategies, Visual team members must think creatively and aesthetically while considering key analytical data daily. Our Visual team cultivates the vision, excitement, and emotion of our Brands.

What Do You Need To Bring? 

• Bachelor’s Degree or junior status working towards a bachelor’s degree
• Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
• Passion for the A&F brands and the role
• Proven leadership experience
• Ability to thrive in team-based settings and a collaborative approach to working with cross-functional partners
• A desire to take on the responsibility of running a portion of our multi-billion-dollar business
• A strong desire for adventure & curiosity
• Ability to adapt and work in a fast-paced, structured environment
• A desire to learn & hunger for more!

The A&F Full Time Leadership Development Programs offer competitive compensation packages for trainees. Other benefits include $8,000 in placement and relocation bonuses, merchandise discounts at all our brands, use of the A&F gym, industry-leading healthcare coverage, and company matching savings and retirement programs.

Our interns are compensated $9,000 for the 9-week summer program. Other benefits of the program have histori