Raw Materials Production Buyer

About Us

DeMellier is a fast-growing award-winning designer fashion brand based in London. DeMellier has been awarded twice by the British Luxury Association WALPOLE, recognising its commitment to innovation, craftsmanship and the highest standards of quality. Its handbags have become a favourite among women all over the world, including celebrities such as Beyonce, Irina Shayk, Emily Blunt, and January Jones among others.

In addition to its direct-to-consumer business, DeMellier is stocked in leading department stores such as Net-a-Porter, Selfridges, Saks Fifth Avenue and Le Bon Marche among others. Beyond creating beautiful products, DeMellier's mission is to be a force of positive influence in the fashion industry. Creating products by women for women, made with integrity while giving back to those less fortunate. For every item sold DeMellier funds vaccines and medical treatments aimed to save the life of a child in need.

The Role

The Production Buyer plays a critical role in coordinating seasonal raw material (RM) purchases, overseeing PO management, and ensuring timely handover of materials and finished goods in line with the production calendar. This role bridges between product development, suppliers, merchandising, and logistics — ensuring operational accuracy, cost efficiency, and quality standards. This role will require frequent travel to our suppliers and vendors.

Key Responsibilities- RM lifecycle

• Responsible for the procurement and OTD of all RM production (4 Collections per year + Capsule Collections), against the company CP and following DeMellier's quality standards.

Seasonal Raw Material Demand Forecasting

• Build a rolling RM demand forecast based on confirmed buys, sales orders, and projected style reorders.

• Use historical consumption data to flag over-ordering risks and ensure alignment with minimum order quantities (MOQs) and lead times.

Vendor Capacity & Lead Time Analysis

• Analyse past vendor delivery performance (on-time, in-full) by material category.

• Use findings to influence vendor selection and negotiation, or to shift allocations seasonally for high-risk materials.

• Simulate cost impacts of different buy volumes, shipping options (air vs sea), and pre-booking vs. spot-buying leather.

• Day-to-day monitoring of the raw material production progress with the tanneries and hardware suppliers and resolving any issues.

Production & Material Risk Assessment

• Score and categorise suppliers by risk (financial, outstanding issues, compliance, capacity, QC) and develop a mitigation strategy (e.g., dual sourcing).

• Use RM master tracker to assess critical-path materials and flag high-risk items early.

• Work closely with the PD - Industrialisation team to ensure all materials are approved for production prior to Production Handover meeting.

• Participate in the Production Handover meeting.

• Review with the factory all new materials/techniques to ensure there are no issues with mass production of those materials.

Purchase Order & Reporting

• Accountable for creating, managing and updating accurately the POs in Priority once all deliveries are agreed. Ensure all raw materials are correctly created in the system before placing the POs.

• Supporting in negotiating raw material cost and deliveries for bulk orders, as and when required.

• Accountable for providing clarity on raw materials PO status, stock count, shipment status and budget status:

o Keep updated the Raw Materials file (POs, stock count & shipments)

o Accountable for accuracy of POs information entered in Priority.

• Build reports on PO status (issued, confirmed, shipped, in-transit, delayed) and highlight POs at risk of impacting production.

• Track and report PO amendments (price, quantity, ETA changes) to understand trend by supplier.

• Accountable for all book-in and book-out on Priority for RM

• Responsible for verifying that invoices cost matches the system

Inventory Optimisation & stock reporting

• Analyse RM stock on hand vs seasonal closing stock to propose reallocation or transfer across seasons/styles.

• Prepare and manage seasonal stock reports and consolidate RM seasonal demand in line with any RM buy updated budget.

• Support Sig. Production Manager with preparing and managing end-of-year RM audits for all factories

• Flag deadstock and high-liability material categories and propose actions and strategies to Sig. Manager (e.g., design reuse or promotional use).

QC Failure Trend Analysis

• Review QC/inspection reports and track material rejections by supplier and failure type (colour, finish, performance).

• Review QC/inspection reports at factory inbound and report any issues.

• Collaborate with Industrialisation and quality to develop feedback process for the RM inspection reports, input and support building the Quality Score Cards Process for RM and Vendors and CAR.

Supplier Price & Terms Benchmarking

• Maintain historical pricing database and analyse cost evolution by material category and supplier, and flag /recommend any actions required for negotiations to Sig. Manager

• Support benchmark pricing against market rates or secondary vendors, and propose re-negotiation where necessary.

Priority Data Accuracy Audit

• Conduct monthly checks to verify accuracy of POs, lead times, MOQs, and delivery dates in Priority.

• Identify systemic errors and propose process fixes or training needs for data entry.

Communication

• Develop effective working relationships with suppliers and effectively communicate with cross-functional teams, ensuring information flows between all actors of the process.

• Work closely with the Production/ Industrialisation/ OPS teams to ensure that all raw material deadlines in the Critical Path are met.

• Manage all day-to-day communication with factories and suppliers.

• Contribute to performance reviews and recommendations on improvements on suppliers/factories in regards to raw materials and any improvement to existing SOPs.

The Ideal Candidate

• 3 to 5 years' experience in a similar role.

• Fluency in Spanish and/or Italian.

• Highly proficient in Excel.

• Experience with working with Priority (ERP) would be a plus.

• Excellent organisational planning skills, highly organised, independent and structured ways of working.

• Detail-oriented with an analytical mindset for identifying delays and risks.

• Excellent communication and follow-up skills with suppliers and stakeholders

• Ability to meet critical deadlines.

• Understanding and alignment with our DeMellier values.

• Desirable previous experience with raw materials (leathers, fabrics & hardware).

• Ability to take initiative and to prioritise work tasks.

• Positive attitude & team player.

Benefits:

• Hybrid-working policy (1-2 days in the office).
• Annual Leave package increasing the longer you stay with us.
• Enhanced company maternity policy.
• Time given yearly to volunteer for a charity of your choice.
• Employee Discount: 50% off Stock and up to 90% off Seasonal Sample Sales.