Assistant Buyer Upholstery

The job holder will be responsible for developing strategic buying plans for the assigned category to achieve the strategic and financial objectives of the organisation. Also, responsible to ensure smooth buying operations through Product Sourcing, vendor identification, evaluation and selection for the category.

Business Planning & Category Management:

1. Develop comprehensive business plans that are consistent with the company's overall goals and strategies.
2. Category SWOT analysis vis a vis competition and assess market opportunity for his/her category.
3. Monitor & review the performance of category business plans by using appropriate scorecard.
4. Oversee the category management with the objective of maximizing sales and profits.
5. Plan and approve the merchandising budget for the category.
6. Discuss, decide and freeze the merchandise plans (pricing, promotion and assortment) and ensure effective in-season management.

Product, Trend & Market Research:

1. Keep abreast of the latest trends in buying and assess realign the existing processes.
2. Identify and leverage alternate buying opportunities to source products and to ensure that company maintains its competitive edge by constant renegotiation.
3. Ensure effective communication, collation and follow-up on various product requirements and findings obtained from the sales/store data.
4. Gather information from industry trade groups or through trade shows/market visits.
5. Develop an adequate vendor base for the company through attending fairs & exhibitions.
6. Build and maintain relationships with vendors and suppliers and negotiate the best deals with them for procuring merchandise.
7. Maintain contact with vendors; update list of vendors for bidding purposes; attend product demonstrations, obtain samples and literature regarding potential products and vendor capabilities and confer with end users.
8. Identify, evaluate and select appropriate vendor mix to achieve business objectives.

Order Management:

1. Place orders for the new items and initiate repeat orders for the categories he is responsible based on the buying plan and ensure merchandise is delivered as per the plan based on the agreed service level agreement.
2. Monitor sales and movements of the newly launched products and suggest merchandise planners to initiate re-orders or to de-list the range if it is not moving.
3. Implement financial and credit services agreement with the vendor that maximizes profit and positively contributes to cash flow.

Market & Competition Study:

1. Conduct market & competition study in categories he is responsible and suggest new product ranges accordingly.

Skills:

1. 3-5 years of relevant experience from buying (Furniture preferably) & from Retail industry.
2. Good knowledge of Furniture category.
3. Knowledge in Retail planning & Merchandising is a must with strong analytical skills.
4. Must be from a design background (Ex: NIFT).
5. Planning and organizing skills.
6. Commercial business acumen.
7. Market research & competition study.

Preferred candidate profile: Should be willing to relocate to Dubai.

Role: Merchandising & Planning - Other

Industry Type: Furniture & Furnishing