Senior Buyer

Opportunity Overview

A leading retail company in Botswana is seeking a highly skilled and commercially minded Senior Buyer with extensive experience in apparel and fashion retail. This role involves steering the department's buying approach and product direction, ensuring alignment with the business goals while managing a team of Buyers and Junior Buyers.

Primary Responsibilities

• Establish and execute departmental strategies for buying, product development, and marketing that support overarching business objectives.
• Lead and mentor a team of Buyers and Junior Buyers, focusing on guidance, coaching, and performance evaluation.
• Oversee the full buying lifecycle, including trend spotting, concept ideation, sourcing, range curation, ordering, and delivery management.
• Create commercially viable product ranges tailored to the target demographics, brand image, and pricing structure.
• Control Open To Buy (OTB), manage budgets, sales figures, stock levels, markdowns, margins, and overall profitability in line with department goals.
• Initiate product development and sourcing activities across relevant apparel categories, handling supplier negotiations and accurate product costing.
• Track and manage critical milestones to guarantee timely delivery and adherence to quality standards of product ranges.
• Analyze product and sales outcomes to identify trends and implement necessary corrective measures.
• Build and nurture supplier partnerships both locally and internationally, overseeing their performance.
• Ensure effective cost control, pricing strategies, and margin management throughout the department.
• Collaborate with various departments such as Planning, Product Development, Sourcing, Quality Assurance, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Visual Merchandising to ensure smooth execution of product ranges.
• Keep updated with evolving fashion trends, consumer behaviors, competitor activities, and market developments within Africa and internationally.

Qualifications and Experience

• Completion of Matric / Grade 12.
• A relevant diploma or degree in Fashion Design, Clothing & Textiles, Buying, Retail Management, or related disciplines.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in apparel/fashion retail buying, with demonstrated expertise at the Senior Buyer level.
• Experience in managing, coaching, and developing Buyers and Junior Buyers.
• Deep knowledge of retail merchandise cycles and complete buying processes.
• Proficient in managing OTB, budgets, margins, pricing strategies, and commercial performance metrics.
• Strong negotiation capabilities and extensive relationship management with suppliers.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (especially Excel), and familiarity with buying, merchandising, ERP, or Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software systems.
• Excellent commercial insight combined with analytical skills and creative product vision.
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail, capable of managing multiple deadlines efficiently within a dynamic retail setting.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a confident and results-driven fashion retail Senior Buyer with strong leadership qualities. They combine commercial insight with an in-depth understanding of product trends and customer needs. Comfort in data-driven decision making, leading teams, negotiating contracts, and delivering profitable, customer-centric product ranges is essential.

Additional Information

Location: Gaborone, Botswana

Employment Type: Full-time, on-site

Start Date: Immediate