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About the Role

We are seeking an ambitious, trend-savvy Junior Buyer with fragrance and/or beauty experience to join our team. This role involves onboarding premium branded ranges, owning critical category KPIs, analyzing market data, managing brand relationships, and guiding Buying Assistants. The ideal candidate balances creative curation with a focus on in-season trading and customer hit rates.

Responsibilities

• Work at pace and agility within a collaborative environment with your Buyer, Trade Planning and Trading & Product Operations team.
• Hold a strong relationship with your Brands externally.
• Make all decisions on the product assortment: brand positioning, price structure and margins, in line with category and customer strategy.
• Make season trading and volume decisions along with the commercial terms and product lifecycle with the Brands, in collaboration with merchandising.
• Ensure up to date expert market knowledge for the category and predict future market dynamics.
• Build and maintain strong Brand relationships, ensuring they adhere to required standards and agreed terms.
• Task manage, coach and provide feedback to your teams Buying Assistant/s.
• Be responsible for all commercial negotiations.
• Support the Buyer and Category Lead in building a product strategy.
• Buy market leading branded ranges managing product lifecycle from launch to exit of product ranges.
• Collaborate with Merchandiser to prepare, and share Standardised Range Plan in line with critical path to hand over to Central Operations Team.
• Work with the Merchandisers in your team to ensure Buying office negotiated rebates targets are achieved.
• Work with and comply with all critical path requirements as necessary.

Requirements

• Beauty and/or Fragrance Buying experience is essential.
• Brand experience critical.
• Commercial mindset with a solid understanding of profit and margin.
• Experience in the retail industry with a focus on buying, category management, or product management within the designated category.
• Direct experience in buying practices, merchandising strategies, and supplier negotiations is critical for this role.
• Strong negotiation skills and experience in leading strategic commercial negotiations with suppliers and vendors to secure favourable terms and agreements, maximising value and profitability for the category in your remit.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively communicate ideas, negotiate agreements, and build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

• Fragrance buying
• Beauty buying
• Brand management
• Commercial mindset
• Profit and margin analysis
• Retail buying
• Category management
• Product management
• Buying practices
• Merchandising strategies
• Supplier negotiations
• Strategic commercial negotiations
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Negotiation skills

Location

• London, Pimlico Head Office
• London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London, SW1V 2QQ

Work Type

• Permanent
• Hybrid working
• 35 hours per week

Experience Level

• Junior Buyer
• Partnership Level 8

Salary/Compensations

• £34,000.00 - £51,100.00 per annum
• Up to £42,000 per annum dependant on skill and experience

Benefits

• Night Premium at a rate of £4.75 per hour for time worked between 22:00 - 06:00.

About the Company

• We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose.
• We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world.
• We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify.
• As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards.
• We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.
• We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong.
• Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE.
• Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.
• As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Equal Opportunity

• We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.