Junior Buyer - Home Range

Dobbies; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday 33 days

Hybrid working

Pension

Staff discount

Study assistance

Team events

Job summary

Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd. is seeking a proactive Junior Buyer to help source, develop and launch commercial ranges that stand out in our multichannel business.

You'll work with our Buyers and Senior Buyers to build supplier partnerships, manage critical paths and drive sales. If you’re curious about trends and product storytelling, this is a great step in retail buying with hybrid office/home flexibility.

Qualifications

• Experience in a retail buying, buying admin, merchandising or product role.
• Commercial head for numbers, with confidence using Excel to analyse sales, margin and KPIs.
• Great communication and relationship-building skills, with suppliers and with colleagues.
• Strong organisation, with the ability to juggle deadlines across a critical path.
• Genuine interest in product, trends and what makes customers buy.
• Experience in garden centre, homeware, gifting or seasonal retail is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Sourcing and developing ranges. Build commercial ranges and find exciting, unique products that customers can't get anywhere else.
• Building supplier relationships to secure the best range, price, quality and terms.
• Owning the critical path and managing launches to match seasonal dates.
• Driving sales and margin in your product area.
• Spotting trends early from consumer insights and buying patterns.
• Attend trade shows and visit suppliers to grow our supply base.

Skills

Retail buying

Merchandising

Supplier management

Excel analysis

Communication

Tools

Excel

Job description

Passionate about product and ready to make your mark?

At Dobbies, we give customers a reason to visit, again and again. That reason is our product: inspiring, seasonal and often only found with us. We're looking for a Junior Buyer with a positive, can-do attitude to help us source, develop and launch the commercial ranges and unique products that set us apart.

You’ll work alongside our Buyers and Senior Buyers in a successful, high-performing buying and merchandising team. You'll get hands-on experience of product sourcing, range development and supplier management, all within a fast-paced multichannel retail business. If you're excited by the idea of seeing products you helped choose on shelves and online, and you're not afraid to question how things are done, we'd love to hear from you.

What you'll be doing as Junior Buyer

• Sourcing and developing ranges. Help build commercial ranges and find exciting, unique products that customers can't get anywhere else.
• Building supplier relationships. Develop strong partnerships with suppliers to secure the best range, price, quality and commercial terms for Dobbies.
• Owning the critical path. Build and manage the critical path with key stakeholders so every product launches in line with our seasonal launch dates.
• Driving sales and margin. Hit and beat company KPIs on sales and margin in your product area.
• Spotting trends early. Review consumer buying patterns and customer insight to understand where future trends are heading.
• Getting out there. Attend trade shows and trade fairs and visit suppliers, helping select new collections and grow a supply base that gives us a competitive edge.
• Challenging the numbers. Regularly review performance indicators such as sales and discount levels, and propose actions to improve them.
• Reporting and forecasting. Write clear reports and forecast sales levels to support confident buying decisions.
• Learning the supply chain. Build your understanding of supply chain and work with the team to protect stock availability.
• Thinking multichannel. Make sure product is available and well represented across every selling channel, in store and online.

Who we're looking for

We care as much about attitude as experience. You'll be:

• Positive and can-do. You see a challenge and get stuck in.
• Driven, with real fire in the belly. You're hungry to learn, grow and make your mark in retail buying.
• Willing to challenge and improve. You ask "why?" and "what if?", and you bring ideas that make our ranges and processes better.
• A team player who loves winning. You're excited to be part of a successful, high-performing team and to play your part in its results.

You’ll also bring:

• Experience in a retail buying, buying admin, merchandising or product role (Buying Assistant or similar), or a strong commercial background and the drive to move into buying
• A commercial head for numbers, with confidence using Excel to analyse sales, margin and KPIs
• Great communication and relationship-building skills, with suppliers and with colleagues
• Strong organisation, with the ability to juggle deadlines across a critical path
• A genuine interest in product, trends and what makes customers buy
• Experience in garden centre, homeware, gifting or seasonal retail is a bonus, but not essential

Who you'll work with

This role sits at the heart of the business. You'll work closely with suppliers, our stores and online teams, the wider buying and merchandising team, our customer team, IT, and colleagues across Dobbies.

How we'll measure success

• Our ranges and products meet, and exceed, customer expectations
• Suppliers are well managed, with excellent relationships on both sides
• Exciting future products are sourced and bought
• Margin and turnover meet and beat budget

What we offer

• Holiday – enjoy a well deserved break with 33 annual leave days per year (pro-rata for part time)
• Discount – treat yourself with generous uncapped discount across our stores with 50% off in our Restaurants, 25% off in the Garden Centre and 10% off in our food halls
• Hybrid working – a combination of office and home working to help balance your work life balance
• Pension – save for the future with our company contributed enhanced Group Pension Plan
• Season ticket loans – spread the cost of travel with an interest free loan
• Access to Stream – support your financial wellbeing, with ability to access earnings ahead of pay day, save for the future and financial advice
• Access to Retail Trust – seek confidential support, access to a Virtual GP, free counselling service and discounted retail rewards with our employee wellbeing platform
• Access to Dobbies Academy – continue your development with our eLearning platform and development programmes
• Study assistance – invest in your professional development with funded courses and qualifications
• The little things to keep you going through the day – free tea, coffee, and milk
• Collaborative office space – with access to our wellbeing room, learning resources and even a book swap
• Invites to our annual company conference, summer and Christmas social events

About us

At Dobbies, we’re proud to have a history dating back to 1865. We were founded by James Dobbie and are the only garden centre retailer to have stores in every nation across the UK.

Our passion and joy for gardens and plants is what makes us special. In our stores, we showcase this through own brand and branded products,concession partners and services. We champion garden living all-year-round.

Many of our stores feature a restaurant or coffee shop, where customers can enjoy refreshments or meals in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

We offer a calendar of events and experiences that bring people and communities together, and we have a national charity partner that both our colleagues and customers raise money for,

We’re committed to being a great place to work. We’re one team and we encourage our colleagues to be the best version of themselves, every day; to share their wins and celebrate success. Together, we make it work for our customers.