Buyer - Menswear

Buyer – Menswear
Full-Time
Kingston-Upon-Thames

Crew Clothing Company was founded in
Salcombe in 1993. Today Crew is a great British brand, and our success
lies in our authentic passion for producing great looking, well made
clothes. We now have more than 70 stores and a thriving website, and the
business continues to grow.
Our people are at the heart of our
company. With a passion for exceptional service, and a love for our
product, our team is dedicated to offering the best customer experience –
nothing is too much trouble.

Purpose of the role:

Supports the Head of Buying in the
commercialisation of agreed Crew Menswear product range to drive profitable
sales growth. This role manages the
process to ensure that the collections, once designed are appropriately priced
and that they are effectively produced to the quality expectations of the Crew
customer and inline with agreed sourcing routes.
A sound awareness of the Menswear marketplace and sales performance will ensure balanced and relevant range
development.

Product development

• Deliver agreed product range from proto stage to product
  delivered in store.
• Identify new product opportunities and present these to Head of
  Buying & B&M Director
• Delivery range that meets all established targets (intake margin,
  cost price, profitable, commercial and on-brand)
• 95% on time delivery through all channels.
• Exceptional range building skills and understanding of Crew
  vision to deliver against that.
• Management of Admin Assistant as necessary within team
  structure.
• Delivery of profitability & maximising sales through trading
  if identified.
• Be involved with understanding the
  range frameworks to include options, price points, and best selling lines
  identified from previous seasons to enable a well-balanced range.
• Liaise with design and technical on a
  weekly basis to manage design, sampling and production Critical Path to achieve
  on time delivery and minimum 95% launch availability
• Monitor product during all stages of
  development and manufacturing to ensure that they meet brand requirements and are to specification
• Attend fit meetings where appropriate
  with design and garment tech teams to ensure continuity of fit and execution of
  new blocks

Supplier relationships

• Develop strong working relationships with all
  supply partners – liaise on all
  stages of product development, negotiation and production stages and
  communicate regularly and consistently.
• Negotiate prices, execute and deliver product ranges,
  which exceed budgeted intake margin for all channel ranges and exceed
  customer expectations, in line with Head of Buying expectations.
• Manage production process from SMS confirmation
  to delivery into warehouse and communicate progress effectively.
• Manage OTB process to ensure in season trading
  opportunities are identified and delivered

Team working

• Work collaboratively and communicate effectively
  at all times within team and wider business.
• Attend weekly departmental team and trade
  meetings to ensure team is well informed and prepared and trading
  opportunities identified
• Work closely with the Merchandisers to ensure
  the signed off range reflects the agreed options and product/colour
  mix. Revisit in line with in
  seasonal performance
• By way of Monthly store visits, marketing and
  analysis of key competitors – gain better understanding of both Crews
  position in the market place, target customer and identify opportunities
  to change / improve

Online & Channels

• Manage salesman sample process from initial
  design prototype through to final stage
• Ensure all SMS samples are available to Channels
  within given timelines, and are executed to meet requirements
• Manage category sample invoices for each season
  to reduce the development costs involved
• Ensure
  all Direct and Marketing requirements are met on time to ensure
  Crew catalogue and website launch
  dates are achieved
• Ensure all correct samples are handed over to
  photo shoot and PR, and communicate any subsequent changes

Key Skills & Experience:

Essential –

• Experience in same or similar role within Menswear.
• Ability to initiate and build strong relationships
  with Supplier and strong sourcing skills with Bangladesh/China.
• Strong negotiation skills
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Excellent computer literacy in Excel /Outlook/Word
• Ability to prioritise and manage a work schedule
  whilst working to tight deadlines
• Team work but motivated and able to work
  independently.
• Understanding of the Buying function and critical Path
  processes and skilled in management of.
• Able to work with pace and energy.
• Energetic and dynamic.

Desirable –

• Desire to learn Understanding of garment construction
  and production processes.
• Passion for product and keen to learn.
• Positive and solutions orientated.
• Keen to progress within role and Crew business.