Assistant Buyer
Cheshire
My client is a fast-growing retailer who are recruiting for an Assistant Buyer
As an Assistant Buyer, you will be tasked with supporting your buyer to deliver the right product at the right time by ensuring the department runs smoothly whilst contributing to the product range with ideas and trade actions. Your role as an assistant is to take on additional responsibility by learning the key skills of a buyer whilst completing your day to day tasks.
Your role will cover assisting on the wider department, ensuring critical path is kept up to date, liaising with the technical, merchandising and design team and communicating with the supply chain in a timely manner to ensure product is shipped on time.
You will be responsible for assisting the Admin’s across the department to ensure they are trained efficiently on the systems, highlighting where extra support/training is required.
Your skills on the systems will mean you are a ‘super’ user and a go to across buying and merch on the purchase order system. Your role will cover all admin tasks as and when required. In addition to the day to day functioning of your department, you will take responsibility for your own category reporting into a senior member of the team.
You will use the range plans to plan out the range with the merchandiser, present in the pre team meetings and step up to presenting in the management sign off meetings.
Additionally, you will:
Gain market/product awareness and competitor analysis, particularly of the online market sharing that knowledge in your Monday afternoon team meetings
Be present in the Wednesday buy meetings ensuring samples are logged, presented and added to the buy pack each week in time for the meetings. Help admins to learn the process and support them in managing the weekly buy pack.
Support the Buyer / Merchandiser to ensure Marketing are correctly briefed regarding new items and that content is accurate on the range plans
Organise lab dips/ approvals and strike off’s with the department admins so that all approvals/rejections can be found easily by any member of the team
Liaise with the QA Department to ensure ensure lateness is managed on the critical path and all parties notified.
Build up fit knowledge, sitting in fit sessions as much as possible, asking questions and learning the impact of changing a size or design detail
Have the opportunity to independently manage your own product range with accountability for its performance against set financial targets
Attend UK and international trade shows, depending on business requirements, with the Buyer when needed in the business
To join us as an Assistant Buyer, you will need:
At least 2 year’s experience of working in a buying function
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Strong negotiation, influencing and persuasion skills
The ability to build rapport and relationships with suppliers and colleagues
The ability to understand and react to the changes in demand, supply and logistics
Strong administrative skills and the ability to work independently. Critical path workflow and management skills