Head of Buying

We have a new opportunity for a Head of Buying and Merchandising to join our growing Jones Bootmaker Head Office Team in York. We are de-coupling the Jones and Pavers brands within the Head Office structure to give more focus & investment to the strategic growth of the Jones Bootmaker brand. As our Head of Buying and Merchandising for Jones you will provide analytics and commercial insight to drive the growth of the brand, ensuring we have the right product in the right place at the right time and at the right price.

Jones Bootmaker was established in 1857, but by 2018 the business had lost its way and was losing money. Since acquiring the business that year, we have stabilised performance and returned the brand to profitability as part of the Pavers Group.

As our Head of Buying & Merchandising, you will lead the merchandising and buying teams for Jones Bootmaker, overseeing the product selection numerically, purchasing requirements and volumes, and visual presentation of our footwear products. You’ll be responsible for ensuring the product pricing proposition is in line with market position, providing the business with analytics to support their direction. You’ll ensure and devise ways of ensuring the range is developed to sell at full margin, the stock is managed to sustainable _levels_ and the BIM positions are well negotiated.

This role requires a highly numerical & analytical mind to ensure the health of the range is sustained and commercially underpinned by excellent planning, both in intake phasing and purchasing numbers. It will require the ability to use existing forecasting models to demonstrate potential sales, as well as part-taking in a project to improve our reporting systems. Teamed with this you will need to be an experienced people manager who can nurture and grow more junior teams to tap into and engage new and existing talent to succeed.

The role and team are based in York, but the company’s flexible and hybrid working policies are available. The role will require occasional travel to the retail estate and suppliers.

**Key Responsibilities for our Head of Buying and Merchandising**
- Develop and implement a comprehensive buying and merchandising strategy aligned with overall business goals that is numerically led and underpinned by commercial analysis.
- Analyse market trends, consumer behaviour, and competitor activities to identify and recommend opportunities for growth.
- Develop and lead the buying critical path, supporting our senior buyers in selecting a curated range of footwear products that align with the brand and appeal to target customers.
- Ensure that the range delivers to its B&M KPIs such as BIM, AM and RR%
- Create a strategy for the lowering of RR% and establish a 24 month plan to diminish this number using analytics to support plan
- Assess brand opportunities alongside own label growth opportunities
- Work with the planner to create well-balanced and profitable assortments that meet the needs of different customer segments.
- Work with the designer to ensure that the range is appealing but is underpinned commercially.
- Monitor inventory levels and make recommendations for stock replenishment or clearance.
- Implement pricing strategies to maximise profitability while remaining competitive in the market.
- Conduct regular pricing analysis and adjust strategies as needed.
- Collaborate closely with marketing, retail, QC and design to ensure seamless communication and alignment on overall business objectives.
- Report and contribute weekly to trading summaries and recommendation to optimise immediate trading performance as well as future trading performance

**About you**
- Highly numerical and analytical with a proven track record of using data to drive growth
- Record of sales growth, with experience of using forecasting models
- Have previously held senior positions, overseeing, growing and developing a large team
- Have good awareness of the retail industry through experience
- Commercially astute with retail industry experience
- Experience managing the critical path of the range plans

**Benefits/Package for our **Head of Buying & Merchandising**

**Salary**: circa £60,000 depending on experience plus;
- Private Medical Insurance
- Death in Service 3 x salary
- Generous staff discount
- Free parking at Head Office
- Annual Discretionary Bonus Scheme

**About Us**

At Pavers we are passionate about providing comfort and happiness to our customers, and we make sure to employ people who are as passionate as we are. We always look for happy, confident, upbeat people, and we provide great jobs in a supportive family environment for them. We know that without our colleagues there is no business, and so the better we look after you, the better service you will provide our customers.

Pavers is a growing, highly profitable, independent family-run business with a strong balance sheet, employing over 1,800 people across our estate of circa 200 Stores, Head Office