Buyer

Job content

Located in the heart of Piccadilly in our beautiful flagship store. This central London location, offers so much to explore including restaurants, bars, cultural sites, shopping and more, and only a short walk from the Green Park Tube Station and plenty of bus stops.

Role Purpose:

An opportunity to grow and deliver the Teaware, Cookshop, Picnic and BFL offering within Home division at Fortnum & Mason. This role will require someone who can understand the Fortnum & Mason’s heritage, it’s unique relationship with food and drink whilst at the same time the ability to add a touch of modernity. Creative strategic skills alongside a good knowledge of the luxury homewares market coupled with a strong eye for new and emerging talent will be the key to this role. The successful candidate should also be able to demonstrate the ability to grow our own brand offering.

To be fully accountable for the department’s buying activities, with an understanding that the KPI’s for the role are to maximise sales, profit and availability whilst minimising stock levels. This to be achieved by the delivery of creative and distinctive ranges which meet and exceed customer expectations. This person must be able to work with all key interfaces within the business and collaborate with their colleagues in food, drink, and hampers to deliver wider cross category campaigns.

Please note that this is a 12 month fixed term contract (maternity cover).

Key Accountabilities:

• Drive the development of innovative new products, ensuring that the integrity of the brand value is maintained.
• To extend the reach of the Fortnum and Mason brand by the development of relevant own brand products which underpin the company’s commitment to provenance and sustainability and have a discernible point of difference.
• Be responsible for adherence to the company’s guidelines on own label specification management and quality control.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of market trends and competitor intelligence and benchmark appropriately.
• Deliver range reviews, plans and presentations in line with the annual planning cycle.
• Work closely with retail and visual merchandising, marketing, and the web team to help deliver your department ranges consistently throughout the business.
• Champion the practice of driving margins through reducing costs without compromising quality and ensure the accuracy of the budget for mark downs.

We expect the successful candidate to have the following skills and experience:

• Knowledge of luxury home and designer markets
• Understanding of the Fortnum & Mason customer
• Strength in range planning and negotiation skills
• Creative strategic thinking
• Experience in home category product development
• A creative eye with an awareness of current trends and what is happening in retail
• A keen interest in food and drink
• Previous experience as buyer is preferred
• Demonstrate an ability to communicate and collaborate, to all levels of stakeholders and consider and adaptable their style, to deliver with gravitas and an ability to influence at all levels and across all disciplines
• Excellent decision-making skills with the ability to identify, prioritize, work within a fast-paced environment.
• Strong organisational & project management skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
• Creative flair tempered with commercial acumen, numeracy and analytical skills
• Strong analytical skills including the ability to analyse data, prepare and interpret reports and communicate actionable results, findings and recommendations
• Commercial acumen

Personality:

• Enthusiastic, energetic, driven, a team player prepared to get involved in all aspects of the department with an ability to take on new challenges.

In return we offer the following fabulous benefits:

• A competitive salary
• A generous store and restaurant discount of up to 40%
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and an extra day off for your birthday
• A fantastic subsidised staff restaurant which uses Fortnum’s ingredients
• Excellent pension scheme

At Fortnum & Mason we’ve been innovating for more than 300 years and as part of our mission to deliver a sense of pleasure for the centuries to come. We have grown to be a digitally focused and multi-channel company with the excitement of expanding our family to include those willing to grow with us.

Those who can consistently demonstrate individual initiative within a collaborative team framework, thrive at Fortnum & Mason. If this sounds like you, and you’re ready for the next step in your career, we welcome your application!