Assistant BuyerHead Office

As an Assistant Buyer, your role is to assist in sourcing and developing a commercial and fashionable product offer that meets customer and market needs, all while maximizing profitability. You’ll be responsible for managing product-related administration, critical path timelines, and supplier relationships. In some cases, you may oversee a smaller product category. Additionally, you'll step in for the Buyer or Junior Buyer as needed, providing support to ensure smooth operations.

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Product & Range Management:

• Assist the Buyer in creating and delivering a customer-focused trade plan, with a particular focus on key events and licensed products.​

• Manage product samples dot com, marketing, customer journey, gold seals etc​​

• Ensure all product milestones (such as sample approvals, lab dips, fabric and print approvals) are met on time. ​

• Ensure that all product and category data is accurately entered into the Range Plan and other relevant buying systems.​

• Ensure products meet the correct packaging and sustainability specifications.

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Supplier & Sourcing:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, focusing on effective communication.​

• Collaborate with in country offices (e.g., CSS Far East and Near East teams) to coordinate product delivery and sourcing processes.​

• Handle all administrative tasks related to sustainability, ensuring compliance with current and upcoming legislation, as well as ethical and legal standards.

Trade Performance & Analysis:

• Review best and worst-selling products weekly and seasonally with buying & merch, present findings to the team with actionable recommendations.​

• Assist in price negotiations and cost breakdowns to ensure products meet profit margins while delivering value to customers.​

• Prepare reports on market share, competitor performance, and pricing, providing insights on how to improve the department’s positioning.​

• Keep an eye on potential risks in the market, including trends, customer behaviours, and competitor moves, and contribute to plans to address these opportunities or risks.

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Cross-Department Collaboration:

• Work closely with Buying, Merchandising, Design, Retail, and Online teams. ​

• Prepare for marketing selections. Complete marketing database to ensure product availability aligns for online and retail. ​

• Prepare for customer journey meetings collaborating with the store visualisation team to ensure products are available for customer journey meetings, both online and in-store sales.​

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Professional Development & Communication:

• Actively pursue personal and professional develBuild strong relationships with team members, stakeholders, and suppliers, sharing key insights and best practices to improve department performance.

Sales & Profitability:

• Support the Buyer in achieving financial targets by ensuring the right products are available at the right time and place to drive sales.​

• Understand markdown performance and contribute to actions to improve profitability.

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Teamwork & Collaboration:

• Drive cross-functional collaboration to ensure products meet the overall brand DNA and objectives.​

• Actively contribute to the team’s success by being a role model for the company’s values and work as a team.

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Skills & Experience:

• Organizational Skills: Strong administration and organizational abilities, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and meet deadlines.​

• A keen interest in fashion, product development, and a desire to learn more about the retail buying process.​

• Ability to work effectively within a team, maintaining strong communication with both internal and external partners.​

• A proactive approach to problem-solving with a "can-do" attitude, willing to take initiative and seek solutions.​

• A solid understanding of market trends, competitor pricing strategies, and customer demands, with the ability to translate this into actionable insights.​

• Knowledge of sustainable practices and the ability to ensure compliance with relevant regulations.​

Everything you'll love

To ensure we balance moments where we know we need to collaborate together and the need for flexibility, Asda has a hybrid way of working with a minimum 3 days a week in one of our Home Offices.Over and above this, each area of Asda may have additional requirements which may require spending more days in the office, visiting suppliers, stores or depots.

You will also get an excellent benefits package including:

• Discretionary company bonus
• Company pension up to 7% matched
• 15% colleague discount in store and online
• Free access to wellbeing services such as Wagestream, 24/7 virtual GP, counselling, health and dental cash plans and a 24/7 employee assistance helpline, alongside discounts across a range of services and activities, from airport parking, enhanced to theme parks and cinemas.
• Asda Allies Inclusion Networks – helping colleagues to make sure everybody is included and that our differences are recognised and celebrated
• Excellent parental leave policies, including maternity & adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, and support for those doing fertility treatments.

We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be Proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves