Head of Buying

Head of BuyingDo you have a passion for apparel and footwear buying?Do you have deep knowledge of merchandising, trend-forecasting, buying & distribution, marketing, inventory control, budgeting, and financial planning?Are you a sophisticated influencer who can negotiate both internally and externally?MacGregor Black are partnering with a Leading Fashion Brand on the search for a Head of Buying. This is a permanent role based in Amsterdam. As the Head of Buying, you will oversee and lead a buying team for their category of responsibility to ensure maximum sales, profits, and liquidation with correct level of inventory, margin, and selection, consistent with divisional and company merchandise strategies.Key ResponsibilitiesWith a strong understanding of the competitive landscape, this role would lead a buying team to define the product mix; identify trends and observe the activities of competitors to identify new opportunities, as well as maintain communication with retail stores to identify customer product preferences.Follow social media and sports/fashion content, and conduct market travel to identify emerging styles/trends/behaviours within our core consumer segments.Initiate product tests to lead the market in emerging opportunities and look to scale early market entry to a large commercial business as warranted. Ensure team is equally engaged in social media and trend identification.Build our brand by creating and interpreting the creative vision into short, medium and long-term merchandising strategies, driving our overall brand strategies while considering unique global and local customer needs.Innovate and drive best practice, to create a world-class function that supports the company's broader goals of growth and high standards of customer service, through inventory management best practices.Lead and develop the merchandise planning process, implementing seasonal plans, sales volume, inventory turnover, promotional and markdown strategies. Drive these decisions and strategies to ensure achievement of sales plans/forecast.Lead forecasting/statement processes regularly, OTB revisions and budget planning. Ensure reporting identifies risks and opportunities to sales and margin.Negotiate with vendors on quantity, delivery deadlines and price, to maximize Company's profits and surpass goals.Partner with the Marketing team to develop program ideas that are grounded in product buys and which drive consumer excitement and sell through.Lead the buying team in the identification of in-store opportunities to tell exciting and commercially relevant product stories and partner with marketing/vendors to enlist social/digital media support.Proven leadership experience in building the capability of the team by developing individuals that are qualified to meet current and future objectives.Provide honest, objective feedback of individual team member's strengths and weaknesses, and identify training and on-the-job opportunities for growth and professional development.Lead the department's annual performance review and Executive Development Review processes.What are we looking for?Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in a retail environmentBachelor's degree in business administration, fashion merchandising, marketing or equivalency required.MBA preferred.Career history that combines progressive buying, merchandising and sales roles for both branded and private label brands.Thorough knowledge of merchandising, trend-forecasting, buying & distribution, marketing, inventory control, budgeting, financial planning, and personnel supervision.Familiarity and comfort-level in a customer-service oriented culture.Demonstrated ability to "raise the bar" in terms of performance and revenue growth, within a fast-paced environment.Proven influencing and negotiating skills both internally and externally.Ability to take ownership of decisions and guide and push back in a diplomatic manner even when faced with dissenting points of view; encourage creative tension, while remaining positive and composed.Comprehensive understanding of the financial, strategic, and technical capabilities of the organization.Excellent organizational, communication, and critical thinking skills.Must be able to identify and resolve problems in a timely manner.Competitive Salary + Benefits.Please contact Peter Paxton today for further information.

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