Senior Buyer

Fortnum & Mason; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A luxury food retailer in London seeks a Senior Buyer to develop and implement the ambient food strategy. The role involves leading product development, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring alignment with sustainability goals. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years of relevant buying experience, strong negotiation skills, and a passion for food. Competitive salary and generous benefits are offered, including discounts and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Up to 40% store and restaurant discount

25 days holidays plus birthday off

Subsidised staff restaurant

Development opportunities

Excellent pension scheme

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a buying role, ideally within ambient food.
• Ability to articulate complex situations simply.
• Strong negotiation skills focused on margin and risk.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of product offers for your categories.
• Develop the supply base for food ranges.
• Maintain knowledge of market trends and competitor intelligence.

Skills

Strong commercial and competitor awareness

5+ years' experience in a buying role

Understanding of sustainability challenges

Strong negotiation and influencing skills

High level of product specific knowledge

Attention to detail

Job description

Our Head Office department is in the heart of Piccadilly and occupies the 5th & 6th floor of our beautiful flagship store.

This central London location offers so much to explore including restaurants, bars, cultural sites, shopping and more, and only a short walk from the Green Park Tube Station and plenty of bus stops.

As a Senior Buyer you will develop and implement the ambient food strategy and plan, in line with our overarching business strategy, ensuring customer experience and sustainability are at the heart of the offering.

You will develop a 'fit for the future' supply base for our ambient food ranges, with a focus on innovation, creativity & quality.

You will support and develop your buying teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the product offer for your categories, ensuring that clear strategies and commercial plans are developed, implemented, and executed to drive strong sales growth, profit and excellent quality standards
• Develop the supply base to ensure we have the right mix of artisanal quality to underpin our food excellence ambitions, as well as suppliers with the scale to support our growth ambitions and international expansion
• Maintain your knowledge of market trends and competitor intelligence and benchmark appropriately
• Review opportunities for new product categories
• Support and develop your team by providing and sharing knowledge on good buying foundations, supply base, market, and competitor analysis your colleagues around the business with product knowledge and inspiration
• Support Buyers in their management of the critical paths and plans to deliver on time deliveries in accordance with the buying calendar and ensure accuracy of information
• Inspire, manage, and coach the team in line with good industry practices and ensuring our teams are valued, respected and empowered
• Support the development of clear ways of working and processes that support agility and creativity to deliver extraordinary, quality product
• Inspire the wider business with passion …

Key Skills / Experience

• Strong commercial and competitor awareness
• Plus 5 years' experience in a buying role, ideally within ambient food
• Understanding of current sustainability challenges and opportunities across the globe
• Able to articulate complex situations in a simple manner
• Able to deliver presentations across all areas of the business with a key eye on our customer and market needs
• Critical path management and able to try and improve lead times and supply base
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills with a focus on margin and risk
• Great relationship management and able to build strong performing team
• High level of product specific knowledge, with a strong palate & eye for design
• Attention to detail across areas of the product cycle
• A huge passion for food including current trends across different markets

Why Work For Us

• Competitive salary
• A generous store and restaurant discount of up to 40%
• 25 days holidays (excluded bank holidays) and an extra day off for your birthday
• A fantastic subsidised staff restaurant which uses Fortnum's ingredients
• A range of opportunities to develop and grow personally and professionally
• Excellent pension scheme

We are committed to developing your career and nurturing your talent, regardless of age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.

We respect and embrace each other's differences, to create a truly inclusive environment.

In the last year alone, our people have been recognised and celebrated, winning awards for their outstanding contributions to Retail, Technology, Global Hospitality & Tourism, Visual Merchandising & Display, Customer Service and Local Community Awards.