Trainee Buyer

**Trainee Buyer**

**Altrincham, WA14 5GZ**

**Full time - 37.5 hours per week**

**Competitive Salary**

**Who are Cotton Traders?**

Cotton Traders is a British clothing retailer established in 1987 by England rugby captain and legends Fran Cotton and Steve Smith. Supported by a growing online and offline (catalogue) presence, we have 80 stores nationwide in England, Scotland and Wales and employee 800 people across the country. We have an ambitious plan to grow the business across all touch points and we can only do this with the best people around us.

Our vision and our values are what make us unique, and they are deeply ingrained in everything we do here at Cotton Traders. Our people are part of the fabric that makes us what we are, and when you’re as passionate about your people as we are, job satisfaction and career progression come hand in hand.

**What’s in the role and what are we looking for?**

Requires a combination of creativity, product knowledge and strategic thinking, demonstrating a clear understanding of the customer that they are buying for.

This is a unique opportunity working directly with the Buying Manager to produce contemporary capsule ranges for our Ladieswear category.The ideal person needs to be flexible and versatile.They will be solely responsible for the administration and general daily duties. It is a full-time position which will include one day working from home.

Some of the key responsibilities include:

- Responsible for developing and delivering the on-line product ranges alongside the buying manager
- Provide seasonal direction based on knowledge and trends
- Maintain and update critical path, proactively communicating any changes to the relevant teams
- Work closely with suppliers and build strong negotiation skills
- Lab dip and bulk approvals ensuring all key dates are met to ensure on time deliveries
- Soley responsible for all administration duties
- Ensuring the completion of all paperwork from planning the ranges through to completing the final purchase orders, attention to detail is crucial
- Working collaboratively with teams across the business to maximise sales across all channels
- Regular shopping trips for inspirational trends, both in the UK and abroad
- Be an experienced Junior Buyer with a minimum of 3 years’ experience within a Ladieswear Buying role
- Have an excellent eye for product with the ability to react to future fashion trends
- Exceptional attention to detail ensuring accuracy in all tasks
- Market place commercial awareness
- Good analytical skills, utilise sales information to improve overall sales
- Excellent communication skills
- Be confident with strong presentation skills
- Be self-motivated and enthusiastic
- Proactive in decision making and problem solving, with the ability to work under pressure at times
- Demonstrate excellent organisational skills
- Microsoft office skills, in particular Excel
- Experience of supplier negotiation

**What’s on offer?**

We are protective and proud in equal measure of our culture and suggest you take a look at our values on our web-site to gain a better understanding of life at CT. Once you’re part of the team, you’ll be rewarded with, alongside other things:

- Flexible working culture, adopting a hybrid working approach
- 25 days holiday rising to 30 days, plus bank holidays
- Your CT, benefits, rewards and recognition platform
- Holiday purchase scheme
- 50% staff discount
- Employee Assistant Programme
- Health cash plan
- Long service awards

**Next steps**

INDMGR