Buyer - Beauty

**About the role**: We have a great opportunity to join our Buying team, as Buyer of Beauty. As a Buyer in this area you will be a highly motivated, experienced individual who uses their expert knowledge to plan and buy the best ranges for our customer within your category. Your remit will be to deliver agreed KPIs including; sales, profit, stock, margin and achieving required customer metrics and hit rates. You will be buying an assortment of high strategic importance and complexity within your category’s commercial product assortment that optimises market trends and creates a competitive advantage. You will be an experienced negotiator adept at independently managing brand supplier relationships. Working with your Merchandiser, you will analyse commercial input and market data from all channels to develop a category assortment that appeals to the John Lewis & Partners customer base. You will work collaboratively with all relevant specialist functions such as Marketing, Online and Store Design to deliver a compelling brand portfolio.
- ** Salary**-** 54,500.00 - 84,100.00 per annum
- ** Salary up to £65000, depending on experience**
- ** Contract type** -**This position is a permanent opportunity
- ** Working pattern/flexible working**-**This is a hybrid working role. The expectation is a minimum of 3 days per week in the office as team collaboration is critical in this role - core days will vary across teams. You will also be expected to make a minimum of 12 visits per year to John Lewis branches.
- ** Location** -**This role is based at the Pimlico, Head Office
- ** Interview Dates**-** 3 November - 6 November. Please note the interviews will be held in person in Pimlico

**Key Responsibilities**
- You will work at pace and agility within a collaborative environment with your Merchandiser, Category Lead, Head of Beauty, Trade Planning, Trading & Product Operations team, Online and marketing. Externally you will hold a strong relationship with your suppliers, Brands and external teams.
- You will be accountable for the commercial success of a product range as defined and agreed with your Category Lead and the commercial and customer success of a product range through range planning and agile in-season trading.
- You will ensure you have up to date expert market knowledge for the category and can predict future market dynamics.
- You are accountable for building and maintaining strong supplier relationships ensuring that they adhere to the required standards and agreed terms.
- You will be accountable for making decisions on the product assortment: development, sourcing, brand positioning, price structure and margins. These will be in line with category and customer strategy. In collaboration with merchandising, you will need to make season trading and volume decisions along with the commercial terms and product lifecycle with the suppliers.
- You may need to deputise for your Category Lead when appropriate.
- You will be responsible for managing and developing the Junior Buyer & Buying Assistant within your category.

**Essential skills/experience you’ll need**
- Tangible proven experience within buying.
- Experience dealing with large/global brands.
- Strong negotiation skills and stakeholder management.
- Highly numerate with strong analytical skills.
- Proven commercial experience of trading in a fast paced and reactive environment.
- Demonstration of a collaborative approach across teams.

**Desirable skills/experience you may have**
- Previous experience in Beauty

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**About The Partnership**:
We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

**Important points to note**:
We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.