Assistant Buyer - Retail Clothing

POUNDLAND LIMITED; Watford; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

10% employee discount

Birthday day off

28 days holiday

Annual bonus up to 10%

Free parking onsite

Wellbeing resources through RetailTR

My Staff Shop discounts

Access to early wages via Stream

Training & development opportunities

Life assurance / pension

Job summary

Poundland & Dealz in Watford is seeking an Assistant Buyer to join the Essentials clothing team. You will support the development of men’s, women’s and children’s ranges across nightwear, underwear, socks, hosiery, swimwear and seasonal lines, managing sample workflows and ensuring Critical Path delivery.

You will work with Buyers, Designers, QA and Suppliers to interpret trends commercially, chase samples, assist with price negotiations and maintain accurate range plans while delivering margin

Qualifications

• We are looking for an Assistant Buyer or strong Buying Admin Assistant with experience in Womenswear, Menswear or Childrenswear Retail Buying.
• You will be well organised with strong analytical skills and an eye for detail.
• You will be creative with a passion for fashion and identifying trends.
• You will build strong working relationships with the wider buying, merchandising and design teams.

Responsibilities

• Understanding clothing product trends and working with the Buyer & Designer to interpret them commercially for the customer.
• Chasing samples from suppliers to ensure everything is available for sign off in line with the Critical Path.
• Supporting the buyer with clear email communication to suppliers & Marketing of trends, briefing packs and colour swatches.
• Supporting Buyer to review product development samples to ensure product is correct to design, quality and price objectives.
• Assisting Buyer with price negotiation with suppliers and factories to deliver margin targets.
• Setting up and managing Critical Path from sample origination, flagging issues with possible solutions to the Buyer.
• Working closely with Buyer & QA to understand fit requirements and approval/amendments.
• Reading reports to identify best/worst sellers for trade and review meetings; supporting follow up actions.

Job description

About The Role

Join us here at Poundland & Dealz as an Assistant Buyer, based at our Watford office supporting our clothing brand Pep&Co. The role offers some flexibility for hybrid working.

As an Assistant Buyer with us, you’ll be aligned to our Essentials clothing team. This is a fantastic opportunity to develop knowledge our men’s, women’s and children’s clothing offering across our nightwear, underwear, socks & hosiery, swimwear and seasonal ranges. You will support the team to develop ranges to maximise sales, intake margin and profit for the business. You will take ownership of sample management and ensure the critical path is achieved.

Your day to day will involve:

• Understanding clothing product trends and working with the Buyer & Designer
• to assist interpreting them commercially for the customer.
• Chasing samples from Suppliers to ensure everything is available for sign off in-line with Critical Path.
• Supporting buyer with clear email communication to Suppliers & Marketing of trends, briefing packs and colour swatches.
• Supporting Buyer to review of product development samples to ensure product is correct to design, quality and price objectives.
• Assisting Buyer with price negotiation working closely with Suppliers and factories to deliver margin targets.
• Setting up and managing Critical Path from sample origination, flagging any issues with possible solutions to the Buyer.
• Working closely with Buyer & QA to understand fit requirements and ability to approve or amend fits
• Reading reports to identify and label best and worse sellers in a timely way for trade and review meetings.
• Supporting Buyer with follow up actions from trade meetings.

We are looking for an Assistant Buyer or strong Buying Admin Assistant with experience in Womenswear, Menswear or Childrenswear Retail Buying.

You will have be well organised with strong analytical skills and an eye for detail. You will be creative with a passion for fashion and identifying trends. You will build strong working relationships with the wider buying, merchandising and design teams. Additionally have the confidence to manage and negotiate with suppliers. You will thrive working in a fast-paced and dynamic team, and will offer direction to the Buying Admin Assistant.

We offer rewards that go beyond the payslip, including:

• 10% employee discount card with increased discount events over the year.
  
• Celebrate your birthday, you’ll get an extra day off for your birthday.
• 28 days holiday a year inc banks, rising by one day a year up to 33 days.
• Annual bonus scheme, with the opportunity to earn up to 10% of your base salary.
• Free parking onsite.
  We put wellbeing first through our partnership with Retail Trust which gives you and your family access to a fantastic range of resources.
• My Staff Shop, giving you an amazing number of discounts and shopping vouchers.
  
• For those unexpected moments, our partnership with stream enables you to access up to 50% of your monthly earned wages early, along with savings and financial advice.
  
• Training and development opportunities, we want you to grow your career with us, be that through one of the qualifications we offer or internal programmes, this role can be just the first step.
  
• Plus, life assurance, loyalty service awards and people's pension.

Bring your energy, teamwork, and get stuck in approach — and we’ll help you build your career with us!

We’re committed and proud to our inclusive culture, and that starts with the recruitment and selection process. If you require a reasonable adjustment during the recruitment process, please do share this with us on your application form and we’ll make every effort to meet your needs.