key responsibilities

Current Trade:

• Drive current trade through reaction and agility to ensure that planned sales are met or exceeded.
• Develop proactive action plans that address product performance issues and action accordingly in collaboration with planner and feedback to management.
• Communicate any changes from current trade that impact other departments such as resource, marketing and visual merchandising.
• Monitor and manage sales by style, pre-production timelines orders and performance milestones to ensure delivery performance through reaction to current trade.
• Manage Supplier relationships and resolve delivery issues with suppliers.
• Conduct relevant competitor analysis and store visits and relay findings to the Buying Brand Merchant and team.            

Post Mortem & Seasonal Strategy:

• Compile and present to senior business leaders a post mortem on trade reports, including good, bad and ugly based, competitor analysis, supplier performance, actual product execution as well as marketing and trend feedback.
• Formulate a sub category strategy that forms the basic of the seasonal assortment framework, ensuring item dominance and clarity of offer for our customer, incorporating trend and post mortem learns for the foundation of this strategy.
• Formulate a seasonal Supplier strategy with your team, inclusive of the resource department that is well considered, risk balanced, allowing for an agile, highly reactive strategy whereby the golden rule forms the basic of the supplier partnership.
• Compile and present to senior business leaders a seasonal strategy including sub cats against the determined.               

Assortment, Booking & Production:

• Based on strategy calls, confirm trends, source samples and present range.
• Confirm supplier roll up with the resource department.
• Work with designers to ensure that graphics, artwork and CAD building are proactively briefed and produced timeously for review.
• Responsible for assortment building in collaboration with planner, present back to Brand Merchants if applicable.
• In collaboration with the greater team in preparing for review ensuring that the range is aligned with seasonal strategic objectives.
• Prepare range and verify that all KPI’s, width & depth, PMO & sales targets are aligned.
• Align the booking process with production timelines and in-store deliveries in collaboration with planner and resource.
• Ensure the fit and pre-production sample process delivers the right quality for the right price, and is aligned with the production process and timelines.
• Confirm and raise purchase orders and any amendments                      

Travel:

• Travel locally and abroad to assess current market trends and provide detailed feedback accordingly.

Team Commitment:

• Contribute proactively in all team meetings and working sessions.
• Provide direction and coaching to the Trainee Buyer and/or Junior Buyer.                                                                

requirements

Education:

• Diploma/Degree: Fashion Design or Clothing Management.                                

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 – 5 years relevant buying experience in beauty/cosmetics within a retail fashion environment
• Product development experience (advantageous)