Senior Buyer WW Footwear

Help shape the footwear our customers love. From Merchandising and Marketing to Product Development, Design, Supply Chain and Space Planning, we work together to bring stylish wardrobe, home and beauty essentials to customers through an easy, inspiring shopping experience—online and in store.

As we transform our business around our customers’ changing needs, we’re looking for colleagues who combine a passion for product with creativity, commercial focus and a collaborative spirit. Bring your ideas, drive and enthusiasm, and help us make every shopping experience one to remember.

As Senior Buyer for Womenswear Footwear, you’ll lead the Footwear department and a large team ranging from Junior Buyer to BAA. This is an opportunity to bring your product passion and commercial expertise to a fast-paced trading business. If you’re an experienced Senior Buyer with a strong understanding of the Footwear and Accessories market and a love of leading teams, we’d love to hear from you.

Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

What you’ll do

Your key accountabilities will include

• Promote & drive a clear understanding of M&S’ womenswear customer, ensuring the segments and demographics needs are understood and put at the heart of the product offer.

• Work with Design to interpret and adapt to market trends and direction, ensuring that the conceptual range developed is differentiating and targeted to the needs of the customer, driving a digital mind-set through clear leadership on the online product strategy.

• To analyse historical sales in line with trends and design direction to manage product mix parameters.

• Work closely with other buyers and technical, design, merchandising, marketing, channel teams inc International to review, influence and cohesively deliver both the global product strategy and ranges throughout the Buying process.

• Leading a trading culture across all levels; spotting opportunities, chasing into new products and working with Merchandising to ensure that failure is identified early and managed appropriately

Who you are

Your skills and experience will include

• Working to at least Senior Buyer level in a fast-paced trading fashion retailer. Extensive own buy experience required in womenswear Footwear. Style focussed with a passion for fashion is a requirement.

• Technical Knowledge and proven track record of developing and trading highly commercial ranges that exceed sales / profit targets

• In-depth knowledge of cost price negotiations and global sourcing

• Good understanding of global retail marketplace with the ability to identify relevant product trends

• Ability to lead, coach and manage people to support development and drive success.

What’s in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation

• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more

• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours

• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future

• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one

• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal

• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave

• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services

• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

Everyone’s welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We are disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We are transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

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