Buyer

Acorn by Synergie; North Devon; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A successful business in North Devon is seeking an experienced Buyer to implement strategic purchasing and lead product sourcing. Key responsibilities include developing seasonal strategies, negotiating costs, and ensuring efficient stock management. The ideal candidate will have strong knowledge of the clothing industry and possess exceptional negotiation and analytical skills. This full-time position offers competitive pay and is permanent.

Qualifications

• Thorough understanding of buying and merchandising principles.
• Broad knowledge of commercial and economic factors in clothing.
• Strong understanding of supply chain and product life cycle.
• Knowledge of garment construction and fabrics.
• Passion for product and excellent market awareness.

Responsibilities

• Develop seasonal departmental strategies in alignment with company strategy.
• Negotiate payment terms and product costs.
• Plan seasonal pricing and promotional policies.
• Oversee order placement and ensure delivery targets are met.

Skills

Understanding of buying and merchandising principles

Negotiation skills

Analytical and numerical skills

Communication and influencing skills

Presentation skills

Planning and organizational skills

Job description

Overview

North Devon | Competitive pay | Full-time hours | Monday-Friday | Permanent

Acorn by Synergie is recruiting for an experienced Buyer to join a successful business in North Devon. This permanent role is responsible for formulating and implementing the buying strategy for an assigned area, ensuring effective planning and trading activity to drive profitable growth.

Key Duties

• Develop and propose seasonal departmental strategy with the Buying, Design and Merchandising teams in line with overall company strategy.
• Establish key financial parameters in partnership with Buying and Merchandising, and agree these with the Management Team.
• Work closely with the Design team to develop seasonal ranges that deliver the product strategy.
• Contribute to sourcing strategy outlining mid- and long-term plans for the global supply base, and implement accordingly.
• Negotiate and agree payment terms and product costs, ensuring payment lead times do not impact launch dates.
• Collaborate with Design, Buying and Merchandising to develop and select commercial ranges that deliver departmental strategy, and secure sign-off from Management.
• Plan seasonal pricing and promotional policy with the Merchandiser in line with strategy, feeding into the company business calendar.
• Oversee order placement, ensuring all KPIs and delivery targets are met.
• Ensure accurate upkeep of key buying documents, including range plans, critical paths and order tracking.
• Own the critical path process through regular supplier liaison to ensure products remain on time and launch availability is maximised.
• Support approval processes on all product elements (lab dips, prints, fabrics, trims etc.) with Design during development through to final sign-off.
• Manage post-sign-off approvals on all components, consulting with Design if major changes occur.
• Work with the Distribution Centre, Merchandising, E-commerce and suppliers to support efficient stock movement through the supply chain.

Requirements

• Thorough understanding of buying and merchandising principles.
• Broad and current knowledge of commercial, economic and market factors affecting the clothing industry.
• Strong understanding of supply chain and product life cycle.
• Knowledge of garment construction and fabrics.
• Excellent brand and market awareness.
• Passion for product.
• Comprehensive understanding of customer profile, product range and competitors.
• Strong negotiation skills.
• Highly numerical, with the ability to interpret data to inform decisions, work to budgets and support financial planning.
• Strong communication and influencing skills at all levels.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, with the ability to adapt to business needs.
• Proven experience in managing opportunities and risks to drive profit.

How to apply

Interested? Apply now! You can apply online today, or call the team on (phone number removed) for more information.

Acorn by Synergie acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment