Assistant Buyer

Department: Womenswear Non Clothing

Location: Head Office, Chelsea House

Job Purpose

The Buying team at River Island play a key role in realising the commercial opportunities created by our unique designs across all of our channels. This is achieved through effective range planning, awareness of key commercial data and customer trends, excellent supplier relations and internal networks, and execution of the Buying Strategy to deliver sales and profit plans. The Assistant Buyer supports the Buyer with trading, booking, fitting, range building, negotiation and supplier management, whilst ensuring the BAA team manages the critical path smoothly.

Key Accountabilities

• Support weekly trading reviews, updating and providing information to the Buying team as needed
• Ensure orders and invoices are accurately and efficiently processed by the BAAs, and new suppliers are onboarded
• Effective sample management, including labelling, working with suppliers (including Home Production where relevant), maintaining the development tracker and ensuring the correct samples are available to support meetings
• Supporting in fit meetings ensuring BAA has prepped accordingly and inputting in the session, deputising in fits where appropriate
• Co-ordinating labelling and ticketing to a high standard
• Monitor and review Critical Path, responding to escalations of risks to reduce delays, and maintaining awareness of current lead times
• Assist Buyer with cost negotiations and range building
• Through a strong knowledge of competitors, key market trends, customers and channels, produce comp shops with recommendations, identifying opportunity and raising to buyer
• Build a foundational understanding of sustainability and how it impacts the Buying choices that are made
• Build a foundational understanding of compliance considerations and impact to the critical path management
• Seek out and positively respond to opportunities to step up and present in trade and department meetings
• Through a growing awareness of ethical trading practices, ensure that we partner well with our suppliers and behave in a consistently ethical way towards them
• Manage the workload of the BAA with a thorough understanding of the BAA performance and escalating to Buyer where support is needed
• Set the direction and objectives for the BAA providing timely feedback and support to enable them to work to the best of their abilities
• Work cross functionally with Core Merchandising team for effective ways of working and collaboratively with other internal teams (Ecommerce, Wholesale, Visual Merchandising)

Key experience required

• Previous experience as an Assistant Buyer, or established Senior Buyer’s Admin Assistant is required
• Experience in an omni-channel business is highly desirable

Job role competencies

• Very good verbal and numerical reasoning skills
• Intermediate MS Office skills
• Computer literate and ability to learn new systems quickly
• Highly organised and proactive, good prioritisation skills
• Collaborative, with strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Very good commercial and market awareness
• Disciplined and conscientious, results oriented
• Resilient and adaptable with the ability to multitask
• Curious, continuous learning mindset
• Coaching, mentoring mindset
• Ability to present own views and assert own views
• Takes initiative
• Good presentation skills
• A keen interest in Product and the River Island brand is a must

About Us

We’re a much-loved brand with an exciting future. Our Islanders are a diverse bunch of bright, talented people who love working together – and are proud of the work they do. Progression here can take you in all kinds of directions. This is what a career at River Island is like. And this is where yours starts.

This role is based at our Head Office in West London.

What we can offer you

• Generous 50% staff discount so you can treat yourself to the latest products, and a bargain staff shop on site!
• Reducing Islanders everyday expenses through discounts, benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more through the Retail Trust.
• A free onsite gym, subsidised restaurant & café to fill your needs. Various social events to socialise throughout the year.
• Every family is unique, we support Islanders with all different family setups enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption & fertility treatment. We also work closely with the Retail Trust to create dedicated support for all our Islanders!
• Flexible working is a given, on top of payday and summer early finish Fridays.
• Give as you earn scheme, a ‘Giver Island’ day each year and receive matched funding.
• Support with upskilling through on the job training and qualifications. A succession plan if you want to progress.
• A generous bonus scheme & private pension plan.
• 25 days paid holiday, exclusive of Bank Holidays. With the added option to purchase additional holiday twice a year for whatever the need!

Keeping You Safe

At River Island we are committed to the safeguarding of all of our employees regardless of age or job role. We will fulfil our obligation under the Prevent duty which seeks to stop extremism and extremist views from materialising in our business. We promote and encourage the belief in British Values- including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Our Island is made up of a diverse community, where we all belong and feel part of something bigger. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.