Senior buyer

Bristol (City of Bristol)
Permanent
Harding
Buyer
Posted: 2 December
The role

Step into a role where your commercial expertise doesn’t just influence a category — it shapes the onboard retail experience across our global fleet.

As Senior Buyer for Liquor and Spirits at Harding+, the ranges you build travel with our guests across oceans. You’ll take full ownership of one of our most strategically important categories, guiding performance, shaping strategy, and acting as our in-house expert within a uniquely dynamic retail environment.

This role is made for someone who thrives on commercial challenge and global collaboration: a buyer who can negotiate confidently, manage key vendor relationships, and turn insight into high-performing, innovative ranges that excite guests and outperform expectations.

You’ll lead and develop a small team while staying close to the detail — managing vendor portfolios, driving promotional and marketing investment, steering stock performance, and ensuring our in-store execution reflects the ambition of the category. You’ll work closely with global brands, cruise partners, and internal teams to unlock opportunities that elevate both commercial results and the guest experience.

If you’re energised by end-to-end ownership, strong partnerships, and the impact of shaping a high-profile category at scale, this could be the next defining chapter in your career.

  • Based in Avonmouth on a hybrid working basis – 2 days per week (Tuesday & Wednesday)
  • Compensation – Competitive Salary, Bonus Scheme, Pension, 4 x Life Assurance, Health Cash Plan, 26 days annual leave (plus Bank Holidays)


    • What you will be doing

  • Own category performance, delivering sales, margin, contribution, vendor income and stock-turn targets in partnership with Merchandising.
  • Lead global vendor management, including commercial negotiations, tendering, SLA benchmarking, joint business plans, issue resolution, and securing funding for promotions and marketing.
  • Shape category strategy and assortment, creating short and medium-term plans, managing the vendor and brand portfolio, maintaining a customer-centric product range, and driving innovation while overseeing range or brand exits.
  • Deliver promotional and marketing plans, building global programmes that maximise sales, profit, visibility and vendor investment across all channels.
  • Oversee stock and retail execution, ensuring stock budgets are achieved while working with VM and Central Operations on layout plans, branded fixtures, and strong in-store presentation aligned to category strategy.
  • Lead and develop your team, embedding best practice across buying and merchandising and communicating a clear “One Harding+” category vision internally.

    • About you

  • Proven experience trading Liquor or Spirits in a retail or brand environment (Global Travel Retail experience highly advantageous).
  • Strong buying and merchandising experience within a commercial retail setting.
  • Excellent communication, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.
  • High proficiency across Outlook, Excel, Word, Access, and PowerPoint.
  • Strong planning, organisation, and time-management skills.
  • Adaptable, proactive, and comfortable working at pace.
  • A collaborative team player who enjoys an entrepreneurial environment and thrives on achieving ambitious targets.

    • About us

    Harding+ is leading the way in innovative onboard cruise retailing, working closely with our cruise line partners and brand partners to ‘make every cruise better’. We stay at the forefront of retailing and consistently provide outstanding customer service, culminating in winning the Cruise Retailer of the Year award for 2022, 2023 and 2025.

    Harding+ is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, invent, simplify, and build. Protecting your privacy and the security of your data is a longstanding top priority for Harding+.

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