BUYER - CHARACTER LICENSE - FASHION & ACCESSORIES

Job description

BUYER - CHARACTOR LICENSE - FASHION & ACCESSORIES - POD

STAFFORDSHIRE - FULL TIME HEAD OFFICE BASED ROLE

Our client is a fast-growth licensed pop culture merchandise and clothing wholesale business, supplying major retail partners including Next, Matalan, Amazon and M&;S. Due to rapid growth they are now looking to recruit an experienced Buyer / Product Developer to take ownership of offshore buying across newness for the business, working closely with design, suppliers and licensors to bring ranges to life.

This is a hands-on, commercially-led buying role covering apparel and accessories across multiple licences. You'll manage the full product journey from research through to range sign-off, while also overseeing their Print on Demand project and supporting the widerteam.

What you'll be doing

Buying:

● Managing offshore buys across newness for the business

● Researching licences, categories, competitors, marketplaces and pricing to inform product

decisions

● Following the master critical path to keep to production lead times and seasonal deadlines

● Planning ranges and identifying appropriate licences and suppliers

● Preparing and delivering briefs to design and suppliers

● Working with design and suppliers to select designs and develop samples

● Providing detailed buying and sampling comments, with feedback logged and communicated clearly

● Building full range plans including CADs, ratios, quantities, estimated costs, RRPs, stock values and RSVs

● Working to a buying budget to ensure ranges make commercial sense

● Using sales data, comparable products and commercial judgement to set quantities

● Presenting ranges for internal sign-off

● Handing over completed range plans for costing and buying sheets

● Reviewing samples across apparel and accessories, feeding back on fit, construction and quality

Print on Demand:

●Managing the POD project

● Planning the POD calendar annually, forecasting option counts , licences and key ranges

● Selecting and prioritising styles based on sales, seasonality, brand approvals and movie releases

● Managing blank selection, purchasing and replenishment across multiple styles

● Buying and managing UK blanks to extend product availability

● Reviewing and forecasting blank requirements to support warehouse and printers

● Overseeing outsourcing of prints through multiple channels

Team support:

● Managing and allocating buying-specific workload for Buying Admins

● Feeding workload to both designers

● Supporting the Wholesale team with feedback

● Working closely with Production on all buys

● Supporting Sales Merch with replenishment quantity allocations

● Acting as first point of contact for supplier and licensor queries

What we're looking for

● Proven buying experience, ideally within character licensed product, apparel or fashion wholesale - ideally POD

● Strong commercial judgement and confidence working to a budget

● Comfortable interpreting sales data to drive quantity and range decisions

● Excellent supplier and stakeholder communication

● Highly organised, able to manage multiple ranges and deadlines at once

● Experience briefing design teams and reviewing samples is a strong advantage

What you'll get

● The chance to work across a varied portfolio of major entertainment and pop culture licences

● A fast-growing business with real scope to shape the buying function

● A close-knit, collaborative team environment

Extra information

Status

Open

Education Level

Secondary School

Location

Staffordshire

Type of Contract

Full-time jobs

Published at

06-07-2026

Profession type

Retail

Full UK/EU driving license preferred

No

Car Preferred

No

Must be eligible to work in the EU

No

Cover Letter Required

No

Languages

English