Buyer – Men’s   Full Time

Responsible for managing the brand philosophy and the product life cycle, inclusive of designing, buying, retail planning and creative, thereby optimizing sales, maximizing profitability, and enhancing brands reputation.

Minimum Requirements

• Education – Bachelors /Masters with specialized training in MS office.
• Experience of working for a national retail chain, with footwear retail
• Expertise on MS Excel for budgeting purposes.
• Buying and product development experience
• Experience of product development for Men’s

Knowledge: –

• Knowledge of footwear retail within the region.
• Knowledge and ability to visualize and anticipate the needs of the business.
• Knowledge and understanding of fashion
• Knowledge of trends, market shifts etc.
• Buying process and practices including multiple critical path management.
• Understanding the planning and merchandising function
• Management of buying coordinator’s

Key Accountabilities: –

Buying & Category Management:

• Lead and manage the entire buying process, across men’s brands and product lines, in order to ensure right and commercially viable product ranges, customer satisfaction, improvement on year-on-year sales, margins and stock levels.
• Inspire the buying team to think creatively, in order to deliver newness in the product range.
• Oversee category management in order to ensure maximization of sales and profitability.
• Manage financial goals including pre-season plans, in-season projections, open-to-buy etc. in order to support retail requirements, whilst maintaining alignment with financial parameters.
• Lead the process of aligning the merchandising planners with the OTB to ensure that the right assortment is delivered to the stores.

Stock & Cost Optimization:

• Manage the inventory (including stock loss mitigation, booked inventory budget, terminal stock etc.) and maintain optimum stock levels in order to ensure that retail requirements are met within the given financial parameters.
• Manage centralized bulk buying, margins, markdowns etc. as well as select vendor mix in order to optimize costs

Analysis and Intelligence:

• Analyze and monitor reports, MIS analytics etc. based on actual sales, forecasts, inventory checks, replenishment needs etc. in order to accurately forecast and meet the needs of the business.
• Analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats vis-a-vis competition and market conditions in order to identify business opportunities.
• Analyze customer buying trends, competitors, and market activities in order to predict future trends and seasonal product requirements.

Promotions:

• Provide strategic as well as operational inputs on the expected margins, possible price points and other parameters in order to drive promotions within product categories.
• Analyze the effectiveness of the promotions in terms of timing, product etc. in order to achieve targeted levels of sales and margins.

Vendor Management:

• Establish and manage relationships with vendors and suppliers in order to ensure financially beneficial partnerships through maximizing the ranges, sales, profit margin and delivery within budget.
• Establish and maintain strategic relationships with suppliers, leading to collaborations, in order to meet the changing needs of customers.
• Liaise with logistics to monitor supplier efficiency and effectiveness in order to ensure that potential risks and delays are identified, and appropriate remedial action taken.

Order Management

• Place orders and ensure the merchandise is delivered on a timely basis, and in line with the service level agreements in order to ensure compliance with buying plans

Retail & VM Coordination:

• Support the alignment of VM standards in the stores, in line with product and company standards, in order to maintain the look and feel of the stores and the brand.
• Support launches and implementation of new floor range stock, in coordination with sales, marketing and VM, in order to ensure successful execution.

Quality Control: 

• Manage and uphold quality standards across buying, in order to ensure product standards and customer expectations are maintained and met respectively.

People Management:

• Drive motivation and employee engagement by focusing on people through mentoring, training etc. in order to ensure a loyal and committed work force.