Senior Buyer

This is a lead buying role in the Argos Commercial team requiring broad leadership, responsible for translating the category strategy, and overseeing its execution to deliver profitable growth for their ranges and that of their teams.
Accountable for range building large turnover categories. For range selection and trading strategy for a given product department, to deliver a customer focused proposition, to agreed target KPIs (including Sales, Margin, Stock, Availability, Digital metrics, and Customer satisfaction), in line with the commercial strategy.
Responsible for product proposition and planned executions across all channels. To achieve optimum cost and profit through collaborative working with the product development and global sourcing teams, and suppliers.
To act as a coach and leader by managing, motivating and developing the Buying team and work closely with merchandising counterparts to ensure that the category strategy is achieved.

Joining Argos as a Senior Buyer means becoming a key player in a dynamic and customer-centric environment where you will have the opportunity to shape and implement strategic visions for product ranges in alignment with senior stakeholders. With a focus on delivering high-quality own brand products and fostering strong supplier relationships, you will be empowered to drive impactful promotions and events, optimise financial performance, and lead a high-performing team through coaching and development. At Argos, you will have the chance to make a real difference in the retail industry, working collaboratively to enhance the customer experience and drive business success.

As a Senior Buyer at Argos, you will play a crucial role in creating and implementing a customer-driven strategic vision for product ranges, in alignment with the category strategy set by senior stakeholders. Your responsibilities will include working closely with various teams to deliver the own brand proposition, influence global brands, manage pricing, develop trading plans, and lead negotiations with suppliers. You will also be responsible for launching ranges, coordinating promotions and events, ensuring financial management, optimising stock and supply, managing channels, and overseeing team management and development to drive performance and achieve business objectives effectively. Your role will involve a high level of collaboration, strategic decision-making, and leadership to drive the success of the category and meet customer needs in a competitive retail environment.

As a Senior Buyer you will have

1. Strong commercial awareness and previous Buying experience, preferably within a Non-food Omni-channel environment.
2. Knowledge of systems and processes in a complex multi-channel environment, adapt at operating across digital, store, catalogue trading, able to balance short and long term objectives to deliver the category plan.
3. High degree of commercial acumen with a proven track record of commercial successes within this or other organisations.
4. A knowledge and understanding of Legal, competition law, anti-bribery and corruption and Intellectual Property.
5. Ability to analyse complex data from multiple sources to drive decisions and strategies.
6. Proven track record of delivering results to targets as an individual and within a team.
7. Financially astute understands how own business decisions can influence shareholder value, understand financial levers to drive product performance with category responsibility.
8. Ability to work under pressure in a fast-moving dynamic retail environment.
9. Ability to identify market trends and opportunities, at pace.
10. Confidence to influence and engage at all levels.
11. Effective communicator, presenter, and team player with an ability to bring others with them to deliver the strategy.
12. Relevant technical experience for given product range.
13. Travel between our sites and foreign travel for supplier engagement in line with business needs.

Qualifications

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. From fragrance to car care, clothing and pots and pans, our General Merchandise team delivers all the non-food items for Sainsbury’s, Habitat and Argos customers. This multi-brand environment means you get to work across most areas. You can also be a pioneer, because the team believes in being brave, iterating and learning as they go. They also develop deep connections to other departments, which opens up a lot of different career opportunities for you. What’s certain is that you’ll spend time on the shop floor to get closer to customers, and bring a broad perspective and the full support of your manager with you wherever you decide to develop next.