Job title: Buyer – Home Department
Location: either at our Jersey-based offices in St. Helier, or working remotely from the UK and travelling to Jersey 4-8 days per month
Reporting into: Head of Merchandising & Buying
Employment type: Full-time
About Us:
Voisins Department Store is the oldest family-run department store in Britain, founded in 1837 by Francis Voisin in St. Helier, Jersey. Today, Voisins continues to be a cornerstone of Jersey’s retail landscape, offering over 100 exclusive brands across various departments, including beauty, fashion and homeware. We remain committed to providing exciting products and exceptional customer service, maintaining our legacy as one of the Channel Islands’ premier shopping destinations.
Job Overview:
We’re looking for a commercially minded Buyer for our Home, Food Hall, Luggage and Fotosound departments. You will be responsible for curating an exciting range of products and brands that our customers will love using your market knowledge, data insights and brand relationships. This role has a broad remit and a lot of ownership – you will drive the full end-to-end strategy, planning and trading cycle for your departments, including budgeting, proposing buys, managing open-to-buy, analysing trade performance, proposing replenishment and proactively managing your inventory. We’re looking for a commercially minded and analytical Buyer who embraces change and will proactively push our business forward.
Key Responsibilities:
- Propose department strategies and annual budgets to the Senior Management Team for sign-off
- Build and maintain strong relationships with both new and existing brands, negotiating the best possible buying terms for Voisins
- Propose commercially viable core and seasonal buys based on historic sales data, customer demand and emerging trends
- Carefully manage and keep within your open-to-buy budgets
- Closely monitor sales, stock, margin and customer feedback to identify risks and opportunities and inform buying decisions
- Propose replenishment and range expansion on bestselling products
- Propose marketing initiatives to the Marketing Team
- Proactively address excess stock and slow selling lines, e.g. through promotions, markdowns, stock swaps, markdown contribution etc
- Work closely with the shop floor team
- Maintain a comprehensive knowledge of your product areas including the general market, trends and brands, and share that knowledge with the sales floor team
- Attend trade shows, brand meetings, and industry events to stay ahead of market trends
Skills & Experience:
- Proven buying experience in homewares or related categories, ideally within a department store or similar retail environment
- Strong commercial awareness and understanding of consumer trends
- Analytically minded with a willingness to embrace technology and make decisions based on data
- Have strong existing relationships with relevant homeware brands, and excellent negotiation and brand management skills
- Proactive with a positive “can-do” attitude
- High level of organisation and attention to detail
- Proficient in Microsoft Excel
- If you’re based on the UK, you must be a confident flyer and live within commuting distance of an airport that flies directly to Jersey
Why Join Us:
- Be part of a close-knit, collaborative team in a respected independent retail business
- Work in an environment where your ideas and expertise are valued
- Help shape the future of our business and contribute to our ongoing success
