Assistant Buyer - Menswear (12 Month FTC)

Internal use only – Grade H

About us

We are The Very Group and we’re here to help families get more out of life. We know that our customers work hard for their families and have a lot to balance in their busy lives. That’s why we combine amazing brands and products with flexible payment options on Very.co.ukto help them say yes to the things they love. We’re just as passionate about helping our people get more out of life too; building careers with real growth, a sense of purpose, belonging and wellbeing.

About the team

Our Buying team have some of the best minds in fashion and retail and are leading the way in finding the next trends and products.

We’re excited to share an opportunity for a high-reaching, creative and dedicated individual looking to expand their buying career.

About the role

We have a really exciting opportunity for an Assistant Buyer on Branded Menswear. This role is initially a 12 month Fixed Term Contract (potential for further opportunities beyond this point) You’ll report directly into the Buyer for the area so lots of opportunity to further develop your skills.

Day to day you will be meeting and managing brand relationships, developing commercial range-plans suited to our customer, producing and presenting reports at trade meetings on trends, forecasts and opportunities.

We’re looking for Assistant Buyer who already has experience at this level or someone who has relevant transferable skills in a relevant profession and can demonstrate a strong understanding and passion for Buying. You will be working with our key menswear footwear and apparel brands such as Jack & Jones, River Island and Timberland.

The skills and behaviours imperative to being a successful AB candidate are; methodical, passionate, strong communication skills, can demonstrate initiative, has a strong eye for product, understand the current market/competition and you must have excellent attention to detail.

We are open to applicants based in either London (Covent Garden) or Liverpool for this opportunity.

Key Responsibilities

• Relationship management: both internally and externally will be important, building strong relationships to maximise commercial opportunities – Key relationships day to day email management with supply chain.
• Commercial awareness: Awareness of the market is key, keeping track of competitor activity, market trends and price positioning.
• Maintaining relationships with brands in line with our values
• Able to deputise for the Buyer in key meetings.
• Able to delegate or take lead and make decisions under pressure.
• Formulating Range Frameworks/Brand Plans alongside merchandising functions

About you

• You will be highly organised with great communication skills.
• You know how to analyse performance and apply lessons learnt to future range building.
• You can pre-empt potential challenges that may impact team or trading and take steps to minimise them before they arise.
• You will build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Able to deputise for the Buyer in key meetings.
• Liaison with SMT and can clearly articulate category performance
• Trading actions – identifying how to maximise best sellers and identifying worst sellers and minimising risk.
• Able to delegate/ take lead.

Some of our benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model
• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews
• £250 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 27 days holiday + bank holidays
• Udemy learning access
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk

• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:

First Stage - a 20 minute initial call with the hiring team to find out more about you and for you to learn about life at TVG.

Second Stage - A 1 hour final stage, task based interview with the Hiring Team.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here.

Equal opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.