Junior Buyer

Role Summary

: Own the day to day buying of TA's design led menswear range from range build through to delivery. You'll work hand in hand with Design to make the design vision commercially successful, costing and negotiating with suppliers to hit margin targets, managing the critical path from fit approval onwards and turning weekly trade performance into clear commercial actions. Works closely with Product Development and Merchandising.

This UK based role is hybrid with in person office attendance required 3 days per week in Leicester. We offer a competitive salary, with bonuses and benefits. You have the autonomy to develop and expand within the role.

Who is TAILORED ATHLETE?

Remember the feeling of a new pair of football boots? Your first tennis racket? Your favourite gym shorts? And how it made you feel like you were going to perform better than you ever have… That’s the feeling we replicate in EVERY one of our products here at TAILORED ATHLETE. As a team and a company we are here to unlock the full potential of Athletes to become the best version of themselves.

As our Junior Buyer, you'll own the day to day buying of our design led menswear range from range build right through to delivery. You'll work hand in hand with our Design team to turn their vision into a commercially successful range for our UK and worldwide site and our US site. That means negotiating with suppliers, owning costings and COGS, keeping the critical path on track and using weekly trading performance to shape what we do next.

The question left to answer is this - are you ready to be part of creating & launching the most exciting and impactful products ever experienced by the modern day athlete? If you hear yourself screaming a big YES, continue reading.

What's in it for you

We are your biggest fans in becoming the best version of ourselves and helping you lead a healthy life inside and outside of work. Here are the highlights of how we support you doing just this.

• Hybrid working with in person office attendance 3 days per week
• A competitive salary and employer pension contributions via a Salary Sacrifice scheme
• Regular team meet ups including a Summer Party
• 25 days holiday, all UK Bank Holidays plus your birthday off (on us)!
• Support setting up your home workspace or subscription to a coworking space plus a paid gym membership (up to £50 per month)

You’ll be supported by a fast growing, visionary, hybrid working, diverse and tight knit team. Our core values are: honest and open, learning and growing, vision and ‘we get things done’.

What you will be doing

• Work alongside our Head of Buying & Design, Merchandising and Design to build each collection and seasonal newness drop in line with the base plan, bringing commercial insight to seasonal planning.
• Prepare and present our range build meetings with accurate samples and range information. You'll also own retail price sign off at range build so every garment and the range plan carry the right prices.
• Carry out regular competitor shops, trend research and price benchmarking across our UK, worldwide and US markets. You'll map our price architecture, spot any gaps and make recommendations backed by clear evidence.
• Keep the range plan accurate and up to date throughout the season with support from our Buying Assistant. You'll also coordinate product and colour naming with Design and Merchandising.
• Build and own the sample and costing sheets for every new and repeat line, capturing supplier costs, freight and duty.
• Lead cost negotiations and supplier terms to secure the best cost prices, lead times and supply routes. You'll hit COGS and margin targets and look for cost savings on core and repeat lines.
• Be the main supplier contact from fit approval through to delivery. Assess the commercial viability of new styles and suppliers and run regular performance reviews on delivery, quality and cost.
• Own COGS from pre season through to in season. Keep freight and duty forecasts accurate with our Supply Chain Coordinator and Merchandiser, flag any big cost changes early and present the COGS update in our monthly P&L.
• Own the master critical path from fit approval onwards, leading the weekly critical path meeting and making sure any exceptions are flagged and actioned.
• Take styles on from Product Development at fit approval and manage them through fabric, trim and pre-production approvals to delivery with our Garment Technologist.
• Work with our Junior Product Developer to track proto samples ahead of range build, support fit sessions and share repeat lines each season.
• Develop and approve labels, swing tickets and packaging in line with the critical path.
• Keep the department organised, from sample storage to our approval library.
• Prepare product information for e-commerce and manage our studio and lifestyle shoot lists, chasing photography samples so they're with Creative Production in time.
• Review weekly best and worst sellers with Merchandising and present what you find to the wider team, along with clear actions such as repeats and re-orders.
• Shop our website like a customer, looking for ways to improve conversion and checking our colours look true to life.
• Mentor and support our Buying Assistant as the team grows.

Who you are

You might be an Assistant Buyer ready for your next step, or a Junior Buyer at a design led brand looking for more ownership and the chance to grow with a D2C business that's scaling quickly.

• Experience in a fashion buying role such as Assistant Buyer or Junior Buyer, ideally at a design led brand (a small brand or start-up is a bonus), menswear or multi-category, with hands on involvement from range build through to delivery.
• Experience negotiating cost prices with suppliers, with a working understanding of COGS, landed costs (freight and duty), margin and minimum order quantities.
• Experience working to a critical path, from fabric, trim and pre-production approvals through to delivery.
• Confident playing an active part in range build and range review meetings.
• Comfortable turning weekly sales data (sell-through, best and worst sellers, returns, stock cover) into clear commercial recommendations.
• Experience building and maintaining range plans, costing sheets and sample trackers accurately.
• Strong commercial awareness, including how pricing and competitor positioning shape a range.
• Experience managing suppliers day to day, from chasing and resolving issues to reviewing performance.
• Enough knowledge of fabrics, trims and garment construction to work closely with Product Development and Garment Technology.
• Confident with Google Sheets or Excel (lookups, filters, basic pivots) and quick to pick up new systems.
• You love great design and enjoy finding commercial ways to make it work, rather than defaulting to the cheapest option.
• Highly organised with a strong eye for detail, especially with costings, approvals and product information.
• A confident negotiator and communicator who builds strong supplier relationships and keeps things simple when presenting.
• Proactive and accountable. You take ownership, flag risks early and come with solutions.
• Collaborative, adaptable and happy wearing a few different hats in a small, fast paced team.
• Always learning, open to feedback and happy to share what you know with others.

You must live within a reasonable distance of Leicester as in person attendance is required 3 days per week.

You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. We are committed to creating a safe, diverse, inclusive and empowering culture at TAILORED ATHLETE, free from discrimination. It is our responsibility to ensure employee wellbeing and diversity is celebrated, embraced and at the forefront of our culture.

If you have any questions or would like a casual conversation about the role, please email careers@tailoredathlete.com.