JOB DESCRIPTION
The Lead buyer is responsible for end-to-end ownership of the category, including buying strategy, assortment planning, vendor management, margin delivery, and inventory optimisation. The role focuses on building commercially strong, customer-relevant assortments while ensuring profitability and operational efficiency.
Key Responsibilities
1. Category & Buying Strategy
- Develop annual and seasonal category strategies aligned with business objectives
- Build balanced assortments across price points, styles, and customer segments
- Drive range planning, SKU optimisation, and lifecycle management
2. Vendor & Product Management
- Lead vendor sourcing, negotiations, and cost optimisation
- Drive new product development in collaboration with design and sourcing teams
- Ensure quality standards, compliance, and ethical sourcing
3. Financial & Inventory Management
- Own category margins, OTB, pricing, and markdown management
- Partner with Planning to manage inventory turns, ageing, and availability
- Monitor sell-through, ROS, and stock productivity
4. Market & Trend Insights
- Track market trends, customer insights, and competitor activity
- Translate insights into commercial product decisions
- Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with Supply Chain, Visual Merchandising, Marketing, and Store teams
- Ensure on-time launches and strong in-store execution
5. Team & Stakeholder Management
- Guide and mentor junior buyers / executives Manage internal and external stakeholders effectively
Ideal Candidate Profile
- 815 years of experience in furniture buying/category management
- Experience in large format retail
- Strong exposure to domestic + import sourcing
- Proven track record of managing category P&L
- Deep understanding of furniture materials, construction, and price architecture
- Strong negotiation and analytical skills
