Senior Buyer - Womenswear

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Company Description

COS offers a wardrobe of ready-to-wear and accessories rooted in exceptional quality and lasting design. The creative soul of the brand is fuelled by a deep connection to modern culture, dynamic global cities and compelling fashion movements. With an emphasis on expert craftsmanship, innovation and materiality, collections are created with a mindful approach, seamlessly blending contemporary and timeless. Learn more about COS here.

Job Description

As a Senior Buyer, you are accountable for maximizing the department sales, profitability, and growth. You lead your team to deliver on the department's vision, aesthetics, and customer appeal, according to the COS Brand.

Leading your team, you secure the best product strategy and purchase for the department, meeting customer, time, price, quality, and quantity requirements. You are responsible for executing product development, having a clear understanding of COS aesthetics and our customer.

What you will do:

• Set the seasonal strategy and sales goals together with the Head of Department and Business Controller, identifying how you will drive the business forward.
• Together with the Online team, drive Global Omni Strategy for optimized customer offer, store, and online.
• Work closely with design to ensure that the assortment delivers on season directions, commercial objectives, and balance of product.
• Lead product development alongside your designer and take responsibility for the department's critical path.
• Analyze departmental performance and take both short and long-term actions to maximize commercial opportunities and minimize risk.
• Responsible for leading the review of all products and planning of the overall assortment.
• Manage the profitability of the department by driving the focus on margin.
• Manage plans for stock levels working with junior buyers and business controllers to ensure we are placing correct quantities based on selling history.
• Negotiate purchase prices, quality, and deliveries to meet margins, quality, and lead-time.
• Develop and execute a competitive production strategy with production offices which should include speed to market in trends and repeats.
• Lead, coach, and develop your team ensuring they have all the knowledge available to meet their objectives.
• Lead, guide, and follow up on your team according to the necessary people processes.

Qualifications

Alignment to our company values is the most important characteristic we look for in all new joiners. Our values are the behaviors that we appreciate above and beyond anything else. We are open-minded and curious, we dare to be different, we believe in constant improvement, and we empower and trust you to take ownership. Our values are part of who we are, what we stand for, and how we act.

To succeed in this role we are also looking for:

• Previous experience as a Womenswear Buyer essential.
• Proven ability of leading and developing a junior team.
• Excellent eye for elevated products with product development experience.
• Up to date and knowledgeable in the latest trends, styles, patterns, silhouettes, fabrics, and colors.
• Clear understanding of the COS aesthetics with a genuine interest in fashion and the different womenswear customers.
• Excellent organizational skills, resilient with the ability to multitask and meet strict deadlines.
• Strategic mindset with experience working with budgets and reacting to trade.
• Strong communication skills, the ability to inspire, influence, and present confidently.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, agile environment with exceptional organizational skills and ability to re-prioritize on a consistent basis.

Additional Information

This is a full-time, permanent contract based at our Head Office in London.

Benefits

We offer all our employees attractive benefits with extensive development opportunities around the globe. All our employees receive a 25% staff discount usable on all our H&M Group brands in stores and online. In addition to our staff discount, all our employees are included in our H&M Incentive Program - HIP. You can read more about our H&M Incentive Program here.

In addition to this, UK-based colleagues also receive:

• Up to 25 days holiday.
• Annual health checks.
• Pension scheme.
• Discounts on various activities and financial/lifestyle products via our benefits hub.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Discounted gym membership.
• Employee assistance via retail trust.
• Private health & dental care.

Inclusion & Diversity

At COS, we're determined to create and maintain inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplaces throughout our organization. Our teams should consist of a variety of people that share and combine their knowledge, experience, and ideas. Having a diverse workforce leads to a positive impact on how we address challenges, on what we perceive possible, and on how we choose to relate to our colleagues and customers all over the world. Hence all diversity dimensions are taken into consideration in our recruitment process.

Ready to apply? Click on the I'M INTERESTED link where you can upload your CV securely. Once we have received your application, we will keep you updated regularly about the status of your application so please look out for our email.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!