Senior Buyer (Clothing)

takealot.com, a leading South African online retailer, is looking for a highly talented Senior Buyer (Clothing) to join our team in Cape Town.

We’re a young, dynamic, hyper growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with integrity to join us.  We offer a market related, Total Remuneration Package which allows full flexibility according to your needs, a great work environment and a promise that you won’t be bored as long as you are prepared for a challenge and want to build something great!

The position reports to the Divisional Buying Manager.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop a comprehensive strategy/plan to drive growth across the department in sales, brands, suppliers and new product listings
• Source and prioritize new brands and suppliers according to this growth plan and in line with market trends and consumer demand
• Deliver against key financial and service level performance indicators within the department (sales, margin, listings availability, stock cover etc.)
• Manage and develop supplier relationships, negotiate good prices, improve trading terms and manage suppliers according to strict SLAs
• Develop a promotional program, source great deals and manage site merchandising for the department
• Support the operations team in delivering a world-class customer experience – monitor department returns, support the customer service team on product queries and resolving any customer complaints
• Manage stock and availability (including replenishment orders, stock cover)
• Supporting performance improvement initiatives for the Retail team as a whole
• Expand School books offering

Qualifications and experience:

• 5+ years related retail / commerce / e-commerce experience
• Diploma / Bachelor's Degree (Business Science or Commerce degree preferable)
• If the Degree / Diploma qualification requirement isn't met, at least 8 years related retail / commerce / e-commerce experience will be required
• Proven experience in Baby category buying

Skills required:

• Strong analytical ability, uses data to inform decisions, identify the root cause and resolve problems
• Strong willingness to learn
• Proven track record of negotiation and stakeholder management
• Entrepreneurial/commercial mindset Solutions-oriented, can-do attitude; self-motivated Ability to manage self and an assistant according to clear prioritization and structured planning
• Ability to build lasting supplier relationships and manage according to SLAs (existing industry networks a significant plus)
• Understanding of the key business drivers within online retail

The Environment:

• takealot.com employees are entrepreneurial and dynamic, smart, customer-centric, fun and have the shared ambition of takealot.com being the leading e-commerce company in Africa.
• We have fun, work hard, take ownership, work in teams to create solutions, and are always open to direct feedback/new ideas on where we can improve.
• We are short on ego and high on output.
• We are doers and not only thinkers, its all in the execution after all.
• We love what we do and what we are creating.

We seek to Employ an Extra Ordinary Mind who:

• is forthright but respectful
• is an expert at doing, who can not only design but also execute
• is analytical, able to use data to make decisions
• is competitive, self-directed and strive to be the BEST (GREAT requires a lot of work and does not only happen during business hours
• is passionate about the potential of e-commerce and delivering a world-class customer experience
• is entrepreneurial, thrives under change and accepts it is a constant and always looks for solutions to do something better and faster
• is able to think about problems from a business perspective using technical and product input
• is curious and challenge the status quo
• is innovative and enjoys iteration
• is collaborative
• will be at the cutting edge of developing new concepts for takealot.com.
• thinks like an owner of the business.
• is SMART, has INTEGRITY and is HARDWORKING

If you meet the above you are an Extraordinary Mind so come and join us!

Takealot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from the previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities will be given preference