We have partnered with a luxury womenswear brand looking for a commercial buyer to join the business.
While professional experience and qualifications are key for this role, make sure to check you have the preferable soft skills before applying if required.
Role purpose
The Womenswear Buyer leads the end-to-end seasonal buy for luxury womenswear categories, balancing creative vision with commercial performance. The role owns assortment strategy, Open-to-Buy (OTB) and margin delivery across regions and channels, ensuring the collection is curated, priced and phased to maximise full-price sell-through while protecting brand equity.
Key responsibilities
* Assortment & OTB: Build seasonal and in-season buy plans by region/channel; own OTB, intake margin (IMU) and stock targets; manage cash/stock flow and risk.
* Market & vendor management: Lead market appointments (Paris/Milan/NY/London); brief suppliers; negotiate terms, exclusives, delivery windows and MOQs; secure capsules and re-cuts.
* Pricing & lifecycle: Set pricing architecture with Merch/Finance; govern markdown, RTV and RTV alternatives; drive healthy weeks-of-cover, stock turn and end-of-season outcomes.
* Trading cadence: Run weekly trade, analyse style/SKU productivity, WOS, ROS and regional performance; action reorders, cancels, chases and swaps to plan.
* Cross-functional collaboration: Partner with Design/PD on range balance, fabric/yield and critical path; with Merch/Planning on phasing and clustering; with eCommerce/Retail/VM on launches and storytelling.
* Channel strategy: Tailor assortments for boutiques, wholesale and e-com; deliver door and cluster-level plans; align with key accounts on JBPs and exclusives.
* Customer & market insight: Monitor competitor movement, trend and client feedback; translate insights into future buys and in-season pivots.
* Quality & sustainability: Support product integrity, compliance and responsible sourcing standards; escalate quality issues and corrective actions with PD/QA.
* Data & systems: Maintain clean data in PLM/ERP; produce concise reporting packs for leadership; champion test-and-learn and ROI accountability.
* People: Coach and develop the assistant/BAA team; foster a high-performance, detail-driven culture.
Experience & capabilities
* Proven track record buying luxury/premium womenswear (e.g., RTW, knitwear, tailoring, dresses) with international market experience.
* Strong commercial acumen: OTB, margin management, pricing and lifecycle governance.
* Deep vendor and showroom relationships; confident negotiation and term setting.
* Analytical, highly organised and deadline-driven; comfortable with rapid in-season decision-making.
* Advanced Excel; working knowledge of PLM/ERP and reporting tools.
* Clear aesthetic judgment aligned to luxury standards and brand DNA.
* Team leadership experience with the ability to influence cross-functionally.
* Willingness to travel during market seasons and key launches.