Fashion Buyer | Retail | Ted Baker

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organisation to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.

Overview of the role

The Retail Buyer coordinates, executes and manages the activities of a buying department, classification or key programs, depending on scope and complexity, and assists the Brand Manager in developing, executing and communicating a product strategy that meets or exceeds financial goals.

What you will do

Operations and Financial Product Assortment Management

• Evaluate stock performance
• Plan it with the Merch team, VM team, Ops team and store managers on weekly basis
• Build a strong relationship with the suppliers
• Conduct market studies to evaluate the prices and trends
• Create a commercial calendar and align it with the marketing team and VM launching plan
• Build strong relationship with the store team and conduct on weekly basis store calls and visits to get feedback from store and analyze accordingly
• Navigate new channels of distribution that will be aligned with elevating the brand performance
• Work closely with internal departments, such as finance, operation, VM, and BM to forecast demand, plan inventory levels, and ensure alignment of procurement activities with business needs.
• Create and plan Exclusive collection for specific countries or channels
• Assess and mitigate the risks we may have in supply chain and discuss it with the logistic team Participates in management review meetings of bottoms-up plans.
• Provides support and compiles data for senior management line reviews.

Buying

• Analyzes product trends and historical data at departmental and classification level.
• Supports and compiles data as needed to aid in developing seasonal strategies, financial targets, and open-to-buy budgets.
• Attends pre-season meetings between buying and planning.
• Travels for markets and buys against open-to-buy and assortment plans
• In-Season Management
• Ensures the financial success of area by meeting or exceeding financial targets including sales, gross margin, gross margin return on investment, and turn goals.
• Reviews weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual sales performance and marketplace information to identify sales trends and business opportunities.
• Provides input and make recommendations to manager on changes to future product assortments and strategies based on in-season analysis and observations.
• Provides input in sales forecast and open-to-buy discussions that review sales and inventory against financial goals, and recommend changes to future order quantities, deliveries, pricing or markdown strategies.
• Develops expert knowledge of customer base by participating in local store visits, evaluates product execution and point of view, gets customer and store associate feedback, communicates to manager.
• Participates in competitive analysis of both direct competitors and opinion leader stores for trend inspiration by shopping these stores.
• Learns to evaluate product assortments, quality, pricing, merchandising strategies and business opportunities.

Communication

• Develops effective relationships with partners in field organization, store operations, visual, warehouse, production, vendors, etc. to maximize opportunities and minimize risks and / or liabilities
• Participates in weekly cross-functional meetings to share information on current business issues.
• Works effectively as a member of a cross functional team by focusing on team objectives and clear communication

Staff Development

• Provides training and feedback as needed to peers, Associate and Assistant Buyers through on the job training, behavioral feedback and modelling, coaching and identifying opportunities for formal training.
• Works efficiently as a member of a cross-functional department team (Merchandising, Planning, and Allocation) by focusing on team objectives and clear communication.
• Collaborate closely with Store Managers and Assistant Store Managers to ensure smooth VM rollouts, minimizing operational disruptions while maintaining high presentation standards.

Required Skills to be successful

• Knowledge of merchandise trends and their financial implications
• Knowledge of basic merchandising, planning and the retail industry
• Clear understanding of financial measurements and how to utilize them in voicing and making decisions
• Effective listening, presentation, verbal and written communication skills

What equips you for the role

Minimum Qualification and Knowledge

Education: Bachelor’s degree graduate or equivalent preferred

Minimum of 3 years in buying & merchandising experience in a fashion brand with a proven track record for driving sales and profit results and training and developing a team of individuals.

• Highly organized, attention to detail
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Work under pressure
• Pro-active and flexible
• Able to handle numerous tasks at one time and prioritize them effectively
• Advanced skills in MS office PowerPoint presentation
• Interpersonal skills ability to interact professionally with high level executives on regular basis.
• Ability to work well with all levels of internal management and staff, as well as third party vendors
• Ability to maintain high degree of confidentiality