Cole Beauty is hiring an Assistant Buyer.
This is a role for someone who wants to become a buyer.
You'll own the buying administration across all four of our brands — and alongside it, start taking on the commercial work. Analysing what's selling. Comparing costs. Drafting supplier briefs. Bringing recommendations rather than raw information.
You'll work directly with our Buyer, and with suppliers, manufacturers and freight forwarders in the UK and overseas.
It's a broad role, deliberately. You won't be handed one narrow category and left there. If you're currently doing buying admin and finding the remit tighter than you'd like, this is the widening.
There's full training, with a documented process guide for every part of the role, and a clear route on to Buyer.
What you'll be doing
- Owning the day-to-day buying administration across four brands: purchase orders, deliveries, supplier follow-ups, trackers and product data.
- Building cost sheets, and working out landed costs and margins.
- Turning weekly sales data into buying insight — spotting what's selling and what isn't, and feeding that into what we buy next.
- Arranging international shipments end to end: sourcing and comparing freight quotes, and recommending the option you'd pick.
- Working with our contract manufacturers and third-party logistics partners to keep production and stock moving.
- Running the sample process and supporting new product development, from first brief through to final sign-off.
- Researching competitors and market trends, and bringing ideas into range development, including gifting.
- Keeping projects on the critical path, and raising anything that looks at risk early.
What we're looking for
- Around one to two years in buying, merchandising, supply chain or similar. If you've been doing buying admin and you're ready for more responsibility, that's exactly the profile.
- Real attention to detail. A lot of this job is data, and it needs to be right.
- Comfortable with numbers — building a cost comparison, working out a margin, and explaining what it means.
- Confident in Excel.
- Happy dealing with suppliers directly , including chasing and pushing back when you need to.
- Able to run several things at once and decide what matters most.
- Curious about why decisions get made , not just what needs doing.
- Nice to have, not essential: experience in beauty, personal care, FMCG or gifting · an ERP system, ideally NetSuite · exposure to international shipping and customs paperwork
What you get
- £26,000–£29,000 , depending on experience
- 75% staff discount across all four brands
- 25 days holiday , plus bank holidays
- Company bonus
- Full training, and a documented process guide for every part of the role.
- A clear route on to Buyer, at the pace you earn it.
- On-site parking, Cheadle.
About Cole Beauty
Cole Beauty was founded in 2007 by Tracy Mort MBE, and makes bath, body and home products under four brands: Grace Cole, The Retreat, Boutique and The Luxury Bathing Company . Our products sit in national retailers, independents and our own channels, in the UK and internationally.
We work closely with English suppliers and keep our supply chain as local as we can, which means real visibility over how our products get made.
Our buying function covers the whole product journey — first idea, development, production, finished stock arriving in the warehouse. You'll be close to those decisions rather than several steps removed from them, and what you work on ends up on shelves.
How to apply
Send your CV to , or apply through LinkedIn. We're reviewing applications as they come in, so it's worth applying early.
If you're not sure whether you're quite ready for this one — apply anyway, and tell us why you want it. We're as interested in where someone is heading as where they've been.
Assistant Buyer in Manchester employer: Cole Beauty Limited
Cole Beauty is an exceptional employer for those looking to grow in the buying field, offering a dynamic work environment where you can take ownership of buying administration across multiple brands. With comprehensive training, a clear progression path to becoming a Buyer, and generous benefits including a 75% staff discount and 25 days holiday, employees are supported in their professional development while enjoying a collaborative culture. Located in Cheadle, you'll have the opportunity to work closely with suppliers and be directly involved in the product journey, making your contributions impactful and rewarding.
