Buyer – Poetry Homeware | Cape Union Mart

• Are you a trend-savvy, design-led buyer with a passion for thoughtful gifting and sensorial body & wellness products? Poetry is looking for a creative, commercially minded Buyer/Product Developer to curate and grow our Body & Gifting category—bringing beautifully considered, meaningful products to life for our customer.
• This is an exciting opportunity to shape a key pillar of our Homeware offering, with a strong focus on body, bath, wellness and gifting. If you’re inspired by trends, grounded in strong commercial thinking, and love building ranges that feel both elevated and emotive, we’d love to hear from you.

What You’ll Do:

• Conceptualise and develop trend-forward, commercial Body & Gifting ranges that resonate with the Poetry customer.
• Source and procure unique products and brands—both locally and internationally—aligned to our brand DNA.
• Manage the full product lifecycle from concept to in-store and online, including critical path management, cost negotiation, supplier onboarding and range execution.
• Collaborate closely with design, marketing, e-commerce, visual merchandising and planning teams to bring ranges to life across all channels.
• Present seasonal range reviews and marketing briefs with strong storytelling, insight and trend direction.
• Build and nurture strategic supplier relationships, negotiating for quality, exclusivity, margin and innovation.
• Act as a category expert across Body, Bath & Wellness and Gifting, continuously identifying new opportunities for growth and differentiation.
• Monitor and manage category performance, using trends, sales data and customer feedback to evolve and refine the range.
• Support ad-hoc projects where relevant, including cross-functional or property-related initiatives where product knowledge adds value.

What You Bring:

• Relevant tertiary qualification and a Grade 12 certificate.
• Minimum 5 years’ buying experience within Body, Beauty, Wellness or Gifting (homeware-related categories advantageous).
• Proven experience in trend research, product development and supplier management.
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end retail buying cycle and the commercial drivers behind successful ranges.
• A refined design eye with excellent attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, etc.).
• Strong commercial acumen, negotiation skills and confident decision-making ability.
• A proactive, collaborative mindset with a can-do attitude.
• Existing local and/or international supplier networks are a strong advantage.
• Exposure to or experience working with property-related projects or environments would be advantageous.