Buyer - Apparel

JD Group; Bury; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff discount

Personal development opportunities

Job summary

JD Group is seeking an experienced Senior Buyer to lead sport fashion merchandising, drive brand partnerships and shape seasonal ranges. You will mentor junior buyers, manage budgets, and present strategic plans to senior leadership while collaborating with merchandising and store teams to maximize assortment performance.

The role requires strong trend knowledge, brand negotiation skills and a proactive, independent mindset to deliver results in a fast-paced omni-channel retail environment.

Qualifications

• Experienced Buyer or currently in a senior buying role.
• Experience of buying Sports Fashion is advantageous.
• Experience of buying branded goods is essential.
• People development experience advantageous.
• Strong understanding and knowledge of current and upcoming sports fashion trends at a high street and premium level price point.
• Able to exercise a high degree of analytical and numerical skills.
• Fully literate in Microsoft Office: PowerPoint, Word, Excel.
• Organisational skills are essential.
• Able to work under own initiative.
• Creative and trend-led individual.

Responsibilities

• Develop and mentor junior members of the buying team.
• Represent the Buying function on relevant fascia and category.
• Attend appointments, select and curate product.
• Attend product launches and relevant trade shows.
• Negotiate with brands and onboard new brands.
• Manage budgets and OTB on seasons and forward budgets.
• Present ranges and department strategy to leadership.
• Prepare and present performance in trade meetings.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to bring brand strategy to life.
• Extensive knowledge of store base and website.

Skills

Senior buyer

Sports fashion experience

Branded goods experience

People development

Sports fashion trends

Analytical skills

MS Office

Organisational skills

Self-motivation

Creativity

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Job description

• Work with the Department Head and Buying Director to build forward strategy and ensure implementation.
• Development and mentorship of junior members of the buying team
• Representing the Buying function on relevant fascia and category (tbc)
• Attending all appointments, with involvement in selection, editing and curation of product
• Attending all product launches throughout the year as specified
• Attending all relevant trade shows
• Market analysis/store visits
• Analysis and review of trade with the merchandising department to propose and drive actions for the week/seasons ahead ensuring KPI's and Margin targets are met.
• Vendor negotiation and New brand onboarding
• Being hyper vigilant on new brands opportunities and trends to diversify and drive department/category sales and ensure market relevancy
• Budget negotiation and planning within internal teams and external brands
• Negotiation with brands re distribution agreements
• Working independently in a creative and trend led environment
• Managing budgets and OTB on in seasons and forward budgets
• Present ranges and department strategy with department head to Buying Director and Merchandising Director.
• Preparation and presentation of performance in trade meetings
• Proposals to assist driving sales in your relevant department
• Stock management in conjunction with brands and merchandising team
• Cross functional collaboration to bring brands/departmental strategy to life.
  Extensive knowledge of our store base and website
• Strong presentation skills
• Confidence within own decisions and product selection. Comfortable in driving decisions on file and being accountable for all actions.
• Ability to act independently
• Extensive knowledge of product area and market
• Ability to look forward and predict trends both current and future
• Highly numerate and skilled within budget forecasting and planning
• Strong time management skills ensuring all business critical deadlines are met

Skills/Experience/Knowledge needed:

• Experienced Buyer or currently in a senior buying role
• Experience of buying Sports Fashion is advantageous
• Experience of buying branded goods is essential
• People development experience advantageous
• Strong understanding and knowledge of current and upcoming sports fashion trends at a high street and premium level price point.
• Be able to exercise a high degree of analytical and numerical skills
• Fully literate in Microsoft Office: PowerPoint, Word, Excel
• Organisational skills are essential
• Be able to work under own initiative
• A creative and trend led individual

What we will offer you

Established in 1981 with a single store in the Northwest of England, the JD Group is a leading omni-channel retailer of Sports Fashion, Outdoors and Gyms with our colleagues working in stores across several retail fascias in many markets around the world. JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and has been a FTSE100 publicly quoted company since 2019 and continues to grow in the UK and internationally. We want to be the leading global omnichannel retailer in the sports and outdoor industry. To be a part of this successful company and help us to achieve this you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-led, innovative and customer-focused organisation which provides operational excellence whilst identifying new areas of growth as part of our day to day objectives.

We know our colleagues work tirelessly to make JD Sports the success it is today and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits including staff Discount On JD Group and other brands within the organisation and personal development opportunities to learn and develop at work.