ASSISTANT BUYER GIRLSWEAR

The Buying team at River Island plays a key role in realizing 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, while ensuring the BAA team manages the critical path smoothly.

Location: Head Office, Chelsea House (West London)

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 practises, ensure that we partner well with our suppliers and behave in a consistently ethical way towards them.
• Manages the workload of the BAA with a thorough understanding of the BAA performance and escalating to Buyer where support is needed.
• Sets 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 Administration 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.

Benefits:

• Generous staff discount and on‑site staff shop.
• Discounts, benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more through the Retail Trust.
• Free onsite gym and subsidised restaurant & cafe.
• Social events throughout the year.
• Family support – maternity, paternity, adoption & fertility treatment, plus support from the Retail Trust.
• Flexible working, payday and summer early finish Fridays.
• Give as you earn scheme and matched funding.
• Upskilling through on‑the‑job training and qualifications, succession plan.
• Generous bonus scheme and private pension plan.
• 25 days paid holiday, exclusive of Bank Holidays, with the option to purchase additional holiday twice a year.

Equal Opportunities: 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.