Role Purpose:

To provide administrative support to the Grocery and Tea buying teams, working closely with your Assistant Buyers and Buyers to ensure the department runs efficiently and smoothly.

You will be working in a fast-paced and demanding environment across two of our most key categories, dealing with a very high product count across a wide supply base. Therefore, you must be a self-starter with exceptional attention to detail, strong communication and numerate skills to be successful in this role.

You will be involved in the administration support of product set up, price changes, supplier on-boarding, managing the supplier sampling calendar and sample storage, checking barcodes on all new products, partaking in tasting sessions and product benchmarking, and handling customer service and account queries.

You will also be the administrative lead for our area: managing the system, range plans and critical paths.

You must be a confident in using the Microsoft suite, as this role will involve managing several Excel range plans, data sheets and Presentation decks. You must be proactive and confident with database systems for managing administration.

Reports to:  

Assistant Buyer – Tea & Coffee

Key interfaces:

Merchandising, Retail, Warehouse, Marketing, Online, Design, Technical, Wholesale.

Key Accountabilities:

Administration:

• Ownership and accountability for managing product system data, ensuring the system and range plans are accurate. Including: product set up, supplier on-boarding administration, pricing, descriptions, weights, hierarchies, commodity codes, shelf life, product dimensions.
• Supporting online trading team with product launch and data management, including supporting with the web range plan, samples for photography, availability dates & report actions, copy and preventing sale online when product has sold through.
• Ensuring marketing and training documents for new product/range launches are accurate and shared on time.
• Managing invoices for the department by liaising with suppliers and finance team.

New Product Development:

• Maintaining the critical path to ensure it is accurate and up to date at all times.
• Support Buying team in chasing suppliers for updates and submissions.
• Taking meeting minutes, agreeing key actions with deadlines and circulating to the key stakeholders.
• Supporting in checking artwork alongside buying team for spelling, grammar, best before, storage, weight, description accuracy and barcodes.
• Support the merchandising planning team by sharing product measurements and images for the management and execution of store drop plans.
• Chasing in gold seal final samples and managing storage of signed off products.
• Supporting the team with benchmarking, competitor shops, pricing reviews, seasonal wash up reports, and communication with the business about upcoming launches.

Reporting, Commercial & Trade Actions:

• Support the team to drive department sales and margin.
• Work with merchandising to manage short-dated product, tracking performance and taking price action when necessary.
• Join floor and web walks, taking meeting minutes, following up on actions.
• Manage in store sampling with suppliers to ensure we have a bustling food hall throughout the year.

Customer Complaints & Quality Control:

• Log and investigate Customer Complaints and Quality complaints with support of Buyer, working closely with the customer services team.
• Keeping accurate QAS documents for all ranges to support with Quality Control.

Marketing:

• Leading key activations and events, support in administrative tasks related to event planning and marketing.
• Responsible for briefing signage for new launches and seasonal campaigns.

Reporting:

• Support the Buyer and Assistant Buyer with weekly and period reports, ensuring these are completed in a timely and accurate manner.

Sample Management:

• Managing, organising, cataloguing, chasing in, and sending out transit test samples.
• Working closely with merchandising team to manage ingredient and packaging purchase orders.

Role Specific Criteria (Experience/Behaviours/Technical Ability)

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

• Proactive and keen to learn, thriving in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Demonstrate an ability to communicate and work well as part of a cross-functional team.
• Exceptional organisational skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
• Ability to work to a deadline, managing multiple work streams and priorities at a time.
• Experience using Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Passion for food and drink, with a keen interest in the latest market trends.
• Competent numerical skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 is desirable but not essential.
• Experience in buying, luxury retail or food is desirable but not essential.

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.

In return, we offer:

• A competitive salary
• A generous store and restaurant discount of up to 40%
• 25 days holidays pro rata (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