Assistant Manager Buying

Dubai, UAE

Ref: RP887-1869

Job description / Role

Job Type
Full Time

Job Location
Dubai, UAE

Nationality
Any Nationality

Salary
Not Specified

Gender
Not Specified

Arabic Fluency
Not Specified

Job Function
General Management

Company Industry
Retail

Objective:

This position is responsible for supporting the development and execution of seasonal buying strategies, assortment planning, and vendor coordination to achieve sales, margin, and brand positioning targets. The role ensures operational efficiency and cross-functional collaboration to drive profitable performance.

Key responsibility:

Buying strategy & planning

Assist in building the seasonal merchandise strategy aligned with brand identity and financial objectives.

Contribute to the development of the assortment mix, investment plans, and seasonal phasing.

Collaborate with senior buyers to create sourcing plans and critical path timelines.

Support OTB (Open-to-Buy) execution and manage purchase order creation and approvals.

Help monitor and maintain product hierarchies, category performance, and assortment balance.

Vendor management & negotiation

Coordinate with suppliers for timely sample development, order placements, and delivery tracking.

Assist in vendor negotiations for pricing, payment terms, and value-added services (e.g., marketing, training).

Maintain strong relationships with vendor partners to ensure consistent product quality and availability.

Performance analysis & range optimization

Analyze weekly sales performance by style, category, and store cluster; recommend in-season actions.

Track sell-through, margin, stock health, and propose markdown or replenishment strategies.

Conduct competitive market analysis and customer insights to inform future buying decisions.

Maintain and update TNA plans for product development and buying cycles.

Cross-functional collaboration

Partner with Planning, Visual Merchandising, and Marketing teams to support product launches and seasonal campaigns.

Participate in the creation of "The Look" for the season and align VM execution accordingly.

Assist in staff product training initiatives to enhance product knowledge and conversion.

Provide insights and data for business reviews and feedback reports for senior leadership.

Desired experience:

5-7 years of experience in retail buying or merchandising, with 1-3 years in a supervisory or lead role.

Solid knowledge of assortment planning, inventory control, OTB (Open-to-Buy) tracking, and vendor coordination.

Skilled in analyzing sales performance, identifying trends, and making data-informed purchasing decisions to support category growth.

Strong collaboration skills with cross-functional teams including planning, visual merchandising, and store operations.

Bachelor's degree in Business, Fashion Merchandising, or a related discipline.

About the Company

The Apparel Group is a global fashion and lifestyle brand conglomerate residing on the crossroads of a modern economy - Dubai, UAE. The mercurial growth in the last 17 years has been by acquiring a host of world class fashion labels from around the world - Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Aldo & Tim Hortons just to name a few.

Today the group caters to thousands of eager shoppers through its over 1530 stores, 75 International brands and employing 12,000 multi cultural staff in over 4 continents. Apparel believes in turning dreams in to reality and we give everyone - our customers, our stakeholders, our employees - an equal opportunity to do so.

Apparel group has carved its strong presence not only in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia but opened thriving gateways to market in India, South Africa, Poland, Singapore, Jordan, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Additionally, clear strategies are in place to enter emerging markets such as Hungary, Pakistan, Egypt and Philippines.

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