Head of Buying & Planning

ETISK - ecommerce & retail recruitment; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

ETISK is partnering with a successful Australian womenswear brand in Sydney to appoint a Head of Buying & Planning. You’ll own the buying and product strategy, lead the buying team and align stock plans with the commercial strategy to drive trading performance.

You’ll oversee both Buying and Planning, work directly with founders and senior leadership, and shape ranges, supplier strategy and category plans in a fast-moving fashion environment.

Qualifications

• Strong womenswear fashion buying experience.
• Experience building commercially successful ranges.
• Understanding merchandise planning, stock and open-to-buy.
• Leadership experience across buying or product teams.
• Excellent commercial judgement and retail maths.
• Product development and supplier management experience.
• Experience sourcing internationally, ideally including China.
• Experience in ecommerce, omnichannel or fast-moving fashion.
• Confidence working with founders and senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall buying and product strategy.
• Set direction for ranges, categories, pricing and product mix.
• Lead and develop the Buying team.
• Oversee Planning through an experienced senior planning team.
• Bringing Buying and Planning closer together around one commercial strategy.
• Making decisions around investment, open-to-buy and stock opportunities.
• Using trading performance and customer behaviour to make faster, smarter product decisions.
• Identifying new categories, trends and commercial opportunities.
• Building strong supplier relationships and improving cost, quality, speed and reliability.
• Working closely with Marketing, Ecommerce and the wider leadership team around launches, campaigns and trading moments.
• Taking real ownership of the commercial performance of the product function.

Skills

Womenswear buying

Range planning

Merchandise planning

Stock management

Open-to-buy

Leadership

Data-driven decisions

Ecommerce experience

Commercial judgement

Supplier management

Job description

• Women's Fashion | Founder-led Ecommerce Brand
• Sydney | $180,000 - $190,000 + super

ETISK is partnering with a successful Australian womenswear brand looking for a Head of Buying & Planning to take ownership of one of the most important functions in the company.

It is a founder-led, ecommerce-first business with an established customer, strong foundations and plenty of ambition for what comes next.

You’ll work closely with the Founder and COO, have a genuine voice in the direction of the business, and be trusted to lead your function without somebody constantly looking over your shoulder. They want someone good enough to own it.

First things first: this is a buying role

Your background needs to be in buying, merchandise or product within fashion, with buying being the priority.

You’ll oversee both Buying and Planning, but you will not be expected to become the Senior Planner. There is an established planning team of 2 beneath you managing the day-to-day detail.

Your job is to connect the two. To make sure the product strategy, range architecture, stock investment and commercial plan are all working together - and that the business is backing the right product at the right time.

What you’ll own

You’ll lead the buying direction across the business, from customer and trend insight through to range architecture, product selection, supplier strategy and trading performance.

That will include:

• Owning the overall buying and product strategy.
• Setting the direction for ranges, categories, pricing and product mix.
• Leading and developing the Buying team.
• Overseeing Planning through an experienced senior planning team.
• Bringing Buying and Planning closer together around one commercial strategy.
• Making decisions around investment, open-to-buy and stock opportunities.
• Using trading performance and customer behaviour to make faster, smarter product decisions.
• Identifying new categories, trends and commercial opportunities.
• Building strong supplier relationships and improving cost, quality, speed and reliability.
• Working closely with Marketing, Ecommerce and the wider leadership team around launches, campaigns and trading moments.
• Taking real ownership of the commercial performance of the product function.

You’ll have access, support and plenty of discussion when you need it - but also the freedom to make decisions, challenge thinking and run your area.

The person we’re looking for

You’ll probably already be operating at Head of Buying, Head of Merchandise, Buying Manager, Senior Buying Manager or equivalent level, or be an exceptional senior buyer ready for broader ownership.

What matters most is that you understand fashion product and can combine instinct with numbers. You’ll know why something will sell - but you’ll also know whether the margin, stock position and customer data agree with you.

You’ll bring:

• Strong womenswear fashion buying experience.
• Experience building commercially successful ranges.
• A strong understanding of merchandise planning, stock and open-to-buy.
• Leadership experience across buying or broader product teams.
• Excellent commercial judgement and retail maths.
• Product development and supplier management experience.
• Experience sourcing internationally, ideally including China.
• Confidence using data to challenge instinct and improve decisions.
• Experience in ecommerce, omnichannel or a fast-moving fashion environment.
• The confidence to work directly with founders and senior leadership.