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Buyer

Employer
House of Hackney
Location
Shoreditch, London (Greater)
Salary
Tailored around the candidate
Closing date
23 Jun 2022

View more

Function
Buyer
Level
Coordinator / Executive
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Title:  Buyer

Reporting To: Managing Director

Based In: London Office

THE ROLE:  To manage efficient purchases and product development to support planned business growth, sales and order fulfilment. Work with the wider team to ensure they become product experts to support selling and product launches. Effectively manage product critical paths to deliver on-time product launches, in-line with quality standards and negotiating prices to deliver required margins. Analyse, suggest and deliver new products and categories in line with House of Hackney brand standards.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Critical path and product delivery

  • Once key dates of a season launch and campaign are confirmed, build out product critical path to deliver on-time launch. Manage timings and dates and escalate potential issues, react to updated critical path timings to keep delivery on track. Communicate external department deadlines to relevant teams.
  • Hold and own weekly critical path meetings to facilitate efficient next steps in the product journey, ensuring all are clear on expectations and delivery dates of next actions. Use the meeting to effectively resolve or find solutions to potential product or journey issues.  
  • Manage sampling process to ensure they are received in time to create product assets and make informed decisions on the range. Comprehensive sampling list and requirements should be scoped for all product and received within required dates.
  • Manage purchase order process to ensure on time and accurate orders are made to keep business stocks at optimum level and fulfil customer order. Where product deliveries run late, ensure these are monitored and all necessary actions with suppliers are taken to pull back into line and prioritise orders, minimising disruption.
  • Ensure department delivery schedules are sent out to the wider team, highlighting any changed delivery dates and ensuring product delivery dates for new collections are clear and understood in all departments. Ensure all departments know how to use and access the delivery schedule to find this information.
  • With new product launches, set and follow critical path dates to ensure collections launch on time. 
  • Outline and set quality standards with suppliers and warehouse team. Product should be quality checked by both the supplier and warehouse team before it goes out to customers. Ensure product delivery keeps within these guidelines. Where it falls short, address issues with supplier and come to appropriate actions to rectify, ensuring measures are put in place to stop this from happening again.
  • On time deliveries - regularly measure and assess supplier lead time performance against SLA. Feedback to supplier where there are issues and put a plan in place to bring this back into line. Discounts on late product to be claimed back where appropriate.
  • Effectively negotiate and build relationships with suppliers to achieve best possible cost prices, marketing discounts, lead times, and operational set up to support business growth and margin.
  • Deliver thorough product training to full team. Ensure sales teams are equipped as product experts in order to competently sell products with an understanding of their features and specifications.

Research and development

  • Conduct industry research on new categories and products. Summarise and present findings to directors for agreement on next steps and product to take forward. Support by highlighting potential obstacles to overcome with the categories and options to overcome these, to keep decision making informed, and develop the most commercial and appropriate range.
  • Actively suggest new products and categories if considered an opportunity where they have not been briefed. 
  • Conduct supplier research to support new categories and products. Thoroughly assess a supplier’s strengths and weaknesses and advise on most appropriate relationships to build. Flag any potential issues and suggest actions to mitigate these, in regards to product and capabilities and operational success. Ensure suppliers are set up to scale.
  • Conduct visits for new suppliers to confirm suitability and to get a detailed understanding of how the relationship will work and if there could be any flags or issues.
  • Support the product development process with the designer to ensure products are created and produced achieving brand quality and aesthetic standards. Communicate effectively with suppliers to achieve desired product updates and changes.

Photography

  • Own the new product photography log and requirements list. Plan efficient and effective photography dates to ensure assets are received inline with critical path requirements. Ensure the creative department receives all required product samples on time for planned product photography dates.
  • Campaign and photography prep - coordinate the list of product requirements and locations to ensure product is moved and arrives where it needs to be for both campaign and product photography on time. Once photography has been completed, ensure all stock arrives back in the required locations and a full pack down is completed.

Trading

  • Prep for and attend Monday sales and stock review and ensure resultant trading actions are completed within 48 hours.
  • Effectively negotiate and build relationships with suppliers to achieve best possible cost prices, marketing discounts, lead times, and operational set up to support business growth and margin. Identify areas of improvement to discuss and move forward with suppliers.
  • When conducting all tasks and forward planning, always ensure brand needs are considered, understood and put before all other considerations.
  • Ensure a weekly web-walk takes place with all updates and amendments fed into the web team for action. Before new product launches, ensure all product is walked and checked online- feedback any issues found relating to all aspects of the product, ie, stock, imagery, features in copy, search functions, related items, pricing, all variable attributes. Add items to bag and ensure they are all shoppable.
  • Testing requirements - ensure products are tested and pass industry standards. Conduct research in the market to inform which testing standards need to be achieved for both commercial and domestic product use. Make sure sales teams have access to test certificates as required to close a sale.

Eco and Packaging

  • Eco and sustainability - continue to map supplier progress within their eco and sustainability targets. Review and identify areas to target and improve, set annual targets to achieve within our business and for suppliers to reach by working closely with them.
  • Lead by example and become an industry expert to evolve this initiative. Keep up to date with any advances which would affect our operations or products. Suggest actions and initiative to continue to evolve and make progress in this area.
  • Manage brand packaging orders and stock to deliver signed off and agreed brand standards. Where packaging changes are required, manage this development process to achieve desired packaging and delivery of stock.

General

  • Be a team player - during busy periods make yourself available to support other departments and events as appropriate. For example during sample sales.
  • Manage team and their workload, priorities, and training. Lead by example and ensure they continue to perform and deliver set KPIs.
  • Team development - ensure direct reports are motivated and coached to exceed goals.

 

IDEALLY YOU’LL HAVE*:

  • Strong commercial awareness and understanding. 
  • Excellent organisational and communication skills are essential. 
  • Be passionate about House of Hackney and the values it stands for. 
  • Flexible approach in order to manage priorities within the business.
  • Highly organised and self-motivated, with the ability to work to tight deadlines and changing priorities.
  • An understanding or experience of converting fabric requirements into finished products such as curtains or furniture is advantageous. 
  • Positive, problem solving attitude, keen to drive positive change 
  • Excellent interpersonal, negotiation and communication skills and intermediate level skills in Microsoft Office.
  • Strong management skills to lead a team of 2 reports.

*The stated experience and background is a guide and does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience, provided the requisite skills can be demonstrated

 

Key Department interfaces: 

  • Merchandising- to execute trading actions and facilitate new product creation.
  • Design- to support new collection/ product creation on time.
  • Comms team- to support new product launches by building team product knowledge. 
  • Sales- to support the team with becoming product experts.
  • Web- to ensure accurate product online and on time.
  • Finance- sign off correct invoices or flag incorrect invoices to be challenged. 


BENEFITS:
As always, there are some perks,

  • 22 Days holiday allowance + Bank Holidays + Maundy Thursday and a half-day for your birthday.
  • Seasonal 4 Day Week Scheme, Fridays off all Summer.
  • Cycle to Work Loan Scheme.
  • Payday drinks every month and at least two exciting team gatherings a year, we also celebrate birthdays in the office whenever possible.
  • Our water is filtered because plastic bottles are banned from the office, plenty of herbal teas, coffee, fruit & cereals are available weekly for that morning snack.
  • The team is hard-working and upbeat, we often help each other and there's very little we can't conquer together.
  • 30% discount across HOH products and first grabs on sample sale items.


House of Hackney is an equal opportunity employer. The company will not unlawfully discriminate on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender affirmation, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, disability or age, pregnancy or trade union membership. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer a visa sponsorship or remote working. 

 

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