Join the Fortnum & Mason Buying Team!

Why Work For Us: 

• Competitive salary
• A generous store and restaurant discount of up to 40%
• 25 days holidays (excluded bank holidays) and an extra day off for your birthday
• A fantastic subsidised staff restaurant which uses Fortnum’s ingredients
• A range of opportunities to develop and grow personally and professionally
• Excellent pension scheme

About The Role:

The Made in House Buyer for Fresh & Bakery is accountable for the overall development and delivery of our Made in House Fresh & Bakery food offer, achieving the highest quality standards across all channels. The role is key to support the delivery of the overall Fresh & Bakery department sales and profit targets. The candidate will demonstrate strong product development and sourcing expertise, with good industry knowledge. Working with our talented team of in-house chefs, the successful candidate will have the ability to identify the key market and product trends, turning them into the most tempting and delicious products for our customers.

The ideal candidate will have an appreciation of fine food, with an excellent palate and knowledge of Fresh Food, alongside an understanding of what is important in food development and selection. They should have a network within the supply base and be respected in their area of expertise.

Reports to: Senior Buyer - Fresh

Key interfaces: The Fortnum’s In House team of Chefs and the Hospitality Administration team, Merchandising, Retail and Hospitality teams, Online Trading Team, Marketing, Design, Warehouse, Food Technical.

What You'll Do:

• Accountable for the delivery of the business’ strategic vision for Made in House (MiH) products across all channels
• Drive sales, profit and growth, through analysis of sales and stock performance (supported by merchandising)
• Demonstrate an understanding of the customer profile and be able to anticipate customer needs and expectations in a multichannel environment
• Demonstrate an authentic and passionate understanding of the luxury Food landscape and of the competition within the wider market
• Define and agree pricing strategies with multiple suppliers.
• Collaborate with our in-house chefs to develop the MiH food offer, building strong relationships
• Ability to input into negotiation of complex business terms and agreements.
• Delivery of new product development in line with the Fortnum own label strategy
• Source new brands and products in line with Fortnum’s strategy & commitment to quality
• Ensure all suppliers meet the Fortnum & Mason compliance standards
• Undertake the delivery of seasonal product calendars to capitalise on key events / holidays throughout year
• Demonstrate an authentic and passionate understanding of the Fortnum’s brand and values

What We Are Looking For:

We expect the successful candidate to have the following skills and experience: 

• The candidate must have experience in food buying, ideally in fresh food
• Awareness of how to create an impact in store with both packaged and loose product
• Ideally the candidate will come from a multichannel Food Retailer, with experience of selecting and developing high quality food products.  
• They should have an ability to manage time and workload with often-competing priorities and varying demands of the business.
• Ability to create and manage range planning across a multichannel business
• High level of organisation, verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to influence and negotiate, effectively, with all team members at all levels including Senior Management & Board Members
• Ability to effectively relationship manage the external and internal supplier base
• Be able to influence and manage multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to work under pressure, be able to prioritise and manage own and direct team’s workload to meet deadlines and manage expectations. 
• Responds effectively to unexpected challenges or failures, remaining composed under pressure, swiftly reassessing priorities, and implementing contingency plans to keep objectives on track 
• Self-motivated, with a collaborative and proactive attitude to work
• Digitally savvy
• Constantly curious generally, but particularly about food and retail trends
• An ability to appropriately challenge, build credibility with a wide range of audiences and work with integrity/confidentiality at all times

We are committed to developing your career and nurturing your talent, regardless of age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation. We respect and embrace each other's differences, to create a truly inclusive environment. In the last year alone, our people have been recognised and celebrated, winning awards for their outstanding contributions to Retail, Technology, Global Hospitality & Tourism, Visual Merchandising & Display, Customer Service and Local Community Awards.