Buying & Merchandising Manager

About Swoon

Swoon was founded in 2012 to create distinctive designs that owners will want to keep forever and a lofty goal to spark home obsession everywhere.

We design original pieces in-house, and our innovative NPD process quickly discovers the next trend. Our testing platform ensures designs sell online at their intended price, and our data-led approach grows sales within families exponentially. Our business model cuts out expensive overheads like shops and overstocked warehouses, making our prices affordable. 

Our distinctive look unlocks collaborations with leading retailers like John Lewis and many more. This diversified growth strategy is powering our brand to a significant market share. And we’re just getting started…

What we are looking for

We're on the hunt for a Buying and Merchandising Manager who is motivated to solve problems, can proactively define new ways of working, and can explain rationale to various teams simply. This role is two-fold. Firstly, to manage our ordering model so we have the right products in the shop, at the right lead time, in order to optimise revenue and conversion but not impact margin negatively with high discount and storage costs. Secondly, you'll develop a framework to direct the in-house designers on where to aim next to find future best sellers, in categories we’re already in, and new ones we should grow into. We aim to develop designs that customers love and want to keep forever.

We’re looking for someone who is data-driven, well-versed at working cross-functionally and process obsessed. You can step between the detail of line level sku performance and present complex analysis and processes to business stakeholders. You’ll run some key operational processes like monthly ordering, discontinuation, cash recovery as well as being responsible for upholding guardrails on tendering and pricing to ensure we manage of stock budget wisely.

We’re a small team of 22 and this is the sole buying and merch role in the business. You’ll be super motivated at the opportunity to have a real impact on our performance and bottom line from the get go and understand the nuances of a SME furniture business.

Responsibilities

• Ordering continuity range and managing stock budget investment
• Owning discontinuation process and cash recovery
• Signing off the newness tendering (RRP, Intake margin) and investment
• Coordinating annual range budget and quarterly forecasting
• Briefing design on where to focus in our design cycles
• Prioritising new sub-category opportunities for investment
• Developing propositions for new category investment
• Signing off on white label/brand investments for non-core categories
• Reporting on range performance and stock in  weekly and monthly trading meetings
• Running regular range reviews

Requirements

• Ideally experience within merchandising but will consider anyone in an analytical role across merch/ buying/supply chain
• Results and outcome driven
• Ability to work with ambiguity and get the job done with imperfect information and limited resources
• Excellent communicator of complex ideas with a logical mindset and drive to create simple repeatable rulesets
• Excellent organisational skills to juggle and prioritise competing projects
• Team player, good at collaborating and engaging with people
• Intermediate excel /sheets skills are essential (Index match, pivot table, sumifs) 
• Data literacy is essential with ability to handle large amounts of data from various sources and an ability to draw out insights and trends that will drive business value

Benefits

Upbeat, ambitious and collaborative – that’s us. We’re a lean team of 22, so if you relish responsibility and like to impact an outcome, we’re the place for you. We’ve made flexible working a permanent thing. Right now, the team works from home, but we’re open to what people might need in the future. We hold regular workshops in London; if the team wants to get together in a co-working space, that’s fine, too.

We have a wide range of perks and benefits, including:

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Share options programme
• Profit share scheme
• Wellbeing allowance
• Pension scheme
• Private medical cover for you and your family

Holidays, working environment and other perks

• 27 days holiday rising to 30 with tenure
• 4 months of summer hours finishing at 1 PM on a Friday (we’re currently trialling rolling this out permanently!)
• Free furniture on each anniversary of employment 
• Friends & family discount of 20%
• Fully remote working 
• Frequent meet-ups, in-person workshops and socials